Hi, it’s Dr Michael Ghobrial here from Sure Dental at Wavell Heights in Brisbane.
I finished treating a new patient Lucas from Clayfield. After our procedure, he said to me, Michael, I wish I found you guys earlier… I’ve been putting off seeing a dentist for so long because of dental fear. I would have got the work done much earlier if I knew it was going to be like this!
One of the things I hear often is that people avoid coming to the dentist because of fear. Whether it’s an experience they’ve had in the past, or whether it’s just the thought of someone in their mouth and teeth. So I thought I’d record this video, and give you a couple of ways that might help ease some of that fear.
Probably one of the best places to start is by choosing the right practice. What you want to do is choose a practice that is going to give you time, and actually hear you out. I think the best thing for a fearful patient is to just start with a chat and a consultation. Having that fear of thinking of a procedure is going to happen hanging over you isn’t helpful. It’s nice to meet, hear their story, hear what it is that they’re fearful about.
This could be really helpful on a couple of different levels. One is often we can avoid whatever it is they’re fearful about, so it helps us in tailoring our management to reduce that fear. Sometimes it’s just as simple as educating the patient about what they’re scared of is just not what’s going to happen, so a good conversation can help put some of those fears at rest.
You also want to choose a practice where the procedure is done with plenty of time, so there can be plenty of breaks. There can be lots of communication to empower you with information, and know what’s going on, and checking in. But also we find things like breathing exercises, even before you enter the office, big, deep, slow breaths, controlling your heart rate can make a big difference.
We use a lot of distraction. That’s really effective for us in our practice. Often patients comment about having something to watch on the screen, having headsets on to drown out some of the noises helps them escape, and that’s a really helpful thing to reduce the fear. Patients aren’t just sitting there waiting for something to happen.
But we can also, in some cases, use happy gas, or we can even liaise with their medical practitioner, and give them medication to relax them as well, whether that be Valium, or other. There are many ways to reduce the dental fear, but I think the key thing is starting with a good consultation, being heard, being educated, and feeling confident that you know what’s going to happen.
If you are someone who is fearful about coming to the dentist, and you’ve been putting it off for awhile, why don’t you shoot us a line on our social media, or contact us through our website at suredental.com.au, or give us a call on 07 3113 9698. We’d love to have a sit down with you, and hear some of your stories, and see if we can help you out.
I’ll see you next time. I hope you’ve enjoyed the video.
