A lot of people are scared to go the dentist.
This is normal and if you are one of these people, then there is nothing to be ashamed of.
Many fears are irrational but a fear of the dentist is not one of these fears.
This is because a fear of the dentist will stem from a previous experience, where a less professional dentist might have done something wrong, and it has left you in pain.
Therefore, it is a rational fear, it is not like you have a fear of ghosts, which is irrational because they don't exist.
A fear of the dentist is one of the reasons that people with a fear need the most work done.
This is because they will not attend their check up appointments and if they have pain, they will try everything else before they have no choice but to go to the dentist.
By the time they turn up, their teeth are so much worse and they need more treatment.
If this sounds like you and you are going through the fear of the dentist right now, then you have probably searched on Google for ways to get over the fear and landed on this article.
Conquer the fear A fear of the dentist is something that you can conquer.
You just have to have the will to do it.
You can do anything that you put your mind to.
You do have to get over the fear because you might end up with tooth loss and gum disease if you do not have regular check ups, or the treatment that you need.
Pain Now, you might have a fear of the dentist because of a bad experience in your child hood, where you were left in a lot of pain.
If this is the case, then everything about the dentist will cause an anxious reaction inside you.
You will be afraid of: • The dentist themselves • The dental chair • The nurses • The reception desk • The waiting area • The lights when you are in the chair • The sounds of the dental machinery However, if you are scared of these things because of a bad experience in the past, then you have to realise that all dentists are not the same.
Just because you had a bad experience with one, does not mean that you will have a bad experience with them all.
Technology Advances in technology have meant that dentists perform their duties a lot different to the way they used to.
If you have not been the dentist in years, then you probably don't know about these advances.
For example, if you went to the dentist in the early 80s and that was when you experienced the pain, it might have been because there were low-tech procedures.
You might have gone in for a filling and it was very painful.
It might have meant that you were in a lot of pain when the filling procedure was being performed.
However, today, now technologies have meant that fillings can take minutes rather than hours and they are more precise, using machines that will reduce pain.
More advanced procedures like gum grafts, are also relatively painless because of the advanced dental technique.
Therefore, the threat of pain for the procedure that you need, might have been eliminated all together and you have no need to be scared.
You just have to tell the dentist that you are afraid and they will walk through the procedure with you.
This will decrease your level of fear and you will begin to trust the dentist.