Dental Phobia
The word 'dentist' alone is sufficient to cause many people to experience a sense of fear and panic. As a result there are thousands of people out there who have sacrificed a beautiful smile rather than sit in the dentist's chair. A recent survey has revealed that 64% of people are fearful of having dental treatment. These people risk ruining their teeth by avoiding regular visits to the dentist and can become dental phobic. Whilst it is perfectly normal to be slightly nervous and there is no doubt that most people would rather be elsewhere, this should not be an over riding obstacle in making regular checkup visits to your dentist.
Recognising that so many people are missing out on dental treatments, some progressive dentists are addressing this issue by implementing different techniques such as hypnotherapy and other relaxation exercises. Irrational fear in some patients is so severe that panic attacks can occur. It was not so long ago, before the coming of high speed air drills, that patients had to endure long periods of agonising tension, watching the pulleys and cord that turned the drill bit ever so slowly. In those days the drills actually set up a vibration in patients head as it slowly ploughed into the tooth. This together with the grinding noise that this old system setup produced was probably the cause for a whole generation of people to become dental phobic.
Further back in time the only form of dentistry practised was tooth extraction. In order to prevent future toothaches some people would elect to have the lot pulled out. If money was available then the local blacksmith was employed to pull the teeth. If people were unable to afford him then a piece of string tied around the offending tooth and attached to a swinging hinged door was the preferred method. So all in all, dentistry has come along way since those days but the fear has remained.
Stories, of course, are handed down from unthinking parents to offspring, from generation to generation of the methods used in earlier times. Such stories described to a young person would be enough to instill a fear of the dentist which would last a lifetime and require some serious therapy to settle. Until quite recently totally wrong techniques were used to trick a child into the dentist's chair. One woman describes how when she was only five years old, her mother, saying that they were off to join a playgroup, instead took her to the dentist. She remembers being strapped into a large black chair and a gas mask being pressed to her face. She experienced so much terror that she wet herself. Needless to say, this experience stayed with her in later years. She was only able to overcome it when introduced to a dentist who had learnt and practised various relaxation techniques and for her hypnosis did the trick.
With almost two thirds of people questioned in the survey stating that they felt nervous at the prospect of visiting a dentist, it seems that much work is still required by dentists in applying these new techniques.
Recognising that so many people are missing out on dental treatments, some progressive dentists are addressing this issue by implementing different techniques such as hypnotherapy and other relaxation exercises. Irrational fear in some patients is so severe that panic attacks can occur. It was not so long ago, before the coming of high speed air drills, that patients had to endure long periods of agonising tension, watching the pulleys and cord that turned the drill bit ever so slowly. In those days the drills actually set up a vibration in patients head as it slowly ploughed into the tooth. This together with the grinding noise that this old system setup produced was probably the cause for a whole generation of people to become dental phobic.
Further back in time the only form of dentistry practised was tooth extraction. In order to prevent future toothaches some people would elect to have the lot pulled out. If money was available then the local blacksmith was employed to pull the teeth. If people were unable to afford him then a piece of string tied around the offending tooth and attached to a swinging hinged door was the preferred method. So all in all, dentistry has come along way since those days but the fear has remained.
Stories, of course, are handed down from unthinking parents to offspring, from generation to generation of the methods used in earlier times. Such stories described to a young person would be enough to instill a fear of the dentist which would last a lifetime and require some serious therapy to settle. Until quite recently totally wrong techniques were used to trick a child into the dentist's chair. One woman describes how when she was only five years old, her mother, saying that they were off to join a playgroup, instead took her to the dentist. She remembers being strapped into a large black chair and a gas mask being pressed to her face. She experienced so much terror that she wet herself. Needless to say, this experience stayed with her in later years. She was only able to overcome it when introduced to a dentist who had learnt and practised various relaxation techniques and for her hypnosis did the trick.
With almost two thirds of people questioned in the survey stating that they felt nervous at the prospect of visiting a dentist, it seems that much work is still required by dentists in applying these new techniques.
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