The Dental Guilt Spiral
I am a Sedation Phobia Dentist in Brighton and Croydon and the Guilt Spiral is something that seems to strike a cord with a lot of people.
I come across this a lot, people who have been "told off" by dentists or hygienists, been made to feel like idiots because they have let their teeth go.
I believe most people know that your teeth fall apart because of too much sugar and not enough brushing so when we go to a dentist because our teeth are a mess, we really know Full Well why that has happened! Why do we then get patronised? And why should we spend money somewhere where we are made to feel like children? This is how I believe the "Guilt Spiral" works.
Here is another Guilt Spiral - and I got this from a young mum I met at a Children's party last week.
She noticed her 4 year old had a small cavity - she felt awful.
She put it off for a bit because she felt so bad.
Eventually the boy was getting some toothache.
The sweet boy had not been to a dentist before.
She went to a local Dentist who told her off, told the boy off, made him cry AND THEN ATTEMPTED A FILLING! The dentist got stroppy with the boy, telling him to keep still whilst the mum looked on in horror.
Needless to say it wasn't a successful appointment and the Dentist has now put the fear into that little boy.
It is such a shame that that Dentists behaviour has actually provided a Barrier to that child getting good Dental Care.
The dentist was thinking that getting the filling done was the most important thing, rather than trying to calm, reassure, not telling the mum she has been a "Bad Parent".
I am a parent, I hate being criticised by other people! How dare they! So, how much of peoples phobias has actually been caused or exacerbated by the Dentist themselves? We as dentists wrongly think,"Its the parents fault, they obviously mentioned the word "Pain" to the child and got them scared" or "the child is feeding off the mums phobia".
If we are going to be a force for good, We as Dentists do need to redress our attitude to Fear Management.
We need to know more about the Long Term Effect of Our Behaviour on the Psychological Health of our Patients.
We need to start being nice.
By Dr Rob Endicott, Dental Surgeon, Phobia and Sedation Dentist in Brighton and near Croydon, UK
I come across this a lot, people who have been "told off" by dentists or hygienists, been made to feel like idiots because they have let their teeth go.
I believe most people know that your teeth fall apart because of too much sugar and not enough brushing so when we go to a dentist because our teeth are a mess, we really know Full Well why that has happened! Why do we then get patronised? And why should we spend money somewhere where we are made to feel like children? This is how I believe the "Guilt Spiral" works.
- You may be nervous of going to the dentist already - you may have had a nasty experience as a child.
You get a cavity and you know about it. - You think, I'll just leave it a bit whilst I build my courage to book an appointment.
Oddly enough, that courage never appears.
so the hole worsens. - It then starts to hurt.
You think, "i must get it sorted really soon now" but it is already starting to give you pain - if anyone goes near it, its going to hurt more.
So you delay a bit longer. - Then the Guilt starts creeping in - If I do go to the dentist now and tell them that I've known about this for a year, it will be "Tut, Tut, Silly You! How could you let it get like this?"
- So not only do you have pain, you have embarrassment and guilt, which only gets worse as time moves on.
- Eventually a tipping point occurs, say an Abscess, where emergency treatment is needed, you find anyone who can help, don't know if you are going to trust them etc etc.
Here is another Guilt Spiral - and I got this from a young mum I met at a Children's party last week.
She noticed her 4 year old had a small cavity - she felt awful.
She put it off for a bit because she felt so bad.
Eventually the boy was getting some toothache.
The sweet boy had not been to a dentist before.
She went to a local Dentist who told her off, told the boy off, made him cry AND THEN ATTEMPTED A FILLING! The dentist got stroppy with the boy, telling him to keep still whilst the mum looked on in horror.
Needless to say it wasn't a successful appointment and the Dentist has now put the fear into that little boy.
It is such a shame that that Dentists behaviour has actually provided a Barrier to that child getting good Dental Care.
The dentist was thinking that getting the filling done was the most important thing, rather than trying to calm, reassure, not telling the mum she has been a "Bad Parent".
I am a parent, I hate being criticised by other people! How dare they! So, how much of peoples phobias has actually been caused or exacerbated by the Dentist themselves? We as dentists wrongly think,"Its the parents fault, they obviously mentioned the word "Pain" to the child and got them scared" or "the child is feeding off the mums phobia".
If we are going to be a force for good, We as Dentists do need to redress our attitude to Fear Management.
We need to know more about the Long Term Effect of Our Behaviour on the Psychological Health of our Patients.
We need to start being nice.
By Dr Rob Endicott, Dental Surgeon, Phobia and Sedation Dentist in Brighton and near Croydon, UK
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