dental fear

How to Cope with Dental Fear

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An interesting article titled “Coping skills for facing dental fears” appears in the February 2017, issue of JADA, vol. 148, issue 2. The article discusses some things you can do if you are afraid of the dentist to help you get through the entire appointment. The first thing the article suggests is to speak up and let the office and dentist know you have dental fear. You can address any coping skills you have used in the past and the dental team may suggest new coping skills that can be tried. You ask the dentist to talk you through what is going to be done for your treatment prior to him or her doing it to help further put your mind at ease. If you need to take a break during treatment you can agree on a signal to use … Read more

Overcoming fear of the dentist’s chair

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It’s something that most of us experience through our childhood, yet for some of us this also expands as we grow older. Whatever group you fall into, it’s time to overcome your fear of the dentist once and for all. Some of you will have already tried all sorts of tricks to beat it. It may have been scheduling appointments at slightly different times, with evening dentists in Northampton sometimes reporting an increase in the number of nervous patients during this period for that very reason. In truth, the options available to you are endless and we’ll now mull over some of the best ways in which you can overcome your fear of the dentist’s chair for good. Make the most of your first visit It might “feel” like the hardest visit, but in actual fact your first visit to … Read more

ADA Straight From the Mouth

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The ADA (American Dental Association) has a video podcast series called Straight from the Mouth. The second video is titled “Overcoming Dental Anxiety.” http://ada.org/straightfromthemouth.aspx The press release from the ADA on this podcast was posted in September 28, 2009. http://ada.org/3241.aspx. However, it still says on the Straight from the Mouth Video Podcast that many other videos are coming soon. It seems like the ADA may have decided not to have these podcasts come out or they just haven’t posted them. If anyone has any information let me know. The podcast is hosted by two dentists Ruchi Nijjar Sahota and Eric Grove. It seems appropriate to younger audiences and is upbeat. The video is important for many of those who suffer from dental anxiety. It discusses needles, drills, and water used for dental procedures. Needles of course are used to anesthetize … Read more

Dental Care in Japan

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I found an interesting piece by Kevin Rafferty in The Japan Times Online from June 15, 2011, titled “A dentist need not be a masked demon.” The article is located here http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20110615a1.html The article gives an inside look into recent developments in dentistry with a particular focus on Japan but the principals and message apply globally. The main focus on the article centers around a report soon to be published in both English and Japanese titled “Guideline for treating caries following a minimal intervention policy, an evidence and consensus based study.” The report was conducted by Mikako Hayashi of Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry and her committee in which 18 months was spent conducting research. Some notabled quotes from the article by Kevin Rafferty include “Recent advances in dentistry include recognition that teeth, if properly treated, regularly cleaned and … Read more

Noise Cancelling Dental Drill

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For those who have dental problems that require treatment a dental drill may need to be used. However, some people have fear of a dental drill and going to the dentist. This may cause some people to not visit the dentist due to fear even though they clearly require treatment. In an effort to help curb those who may suffer from dental fear, technology has recently been developed that will cancel out the noise of a dental drill. One would plug a device into their MP3 player and then plug their headphones into this MP3 player. The technology uses adaptive filtering where electronic filters lock onto sound waves and removes those particular sound waves causing their sound to not be heard. The dentist and dental team can still talk to the person having treatment. The technology was initially conceived of … Read more