{"id":1113,"date":"2019-09-23T12:58:02","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T12:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/?p=1113"},"modified":"2024-11-04T15:49:20","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T15:49:20","slug":"ways-to-cope-with-dental-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/blog\/ways-to-cope-with-dental-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"Ways to Cope With Dental Anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

\r\nIf you experience dentophobia\r\n(a fear of the dentist) or you generally get nervous ahead of\r\nupcoming check-ups or a dental procedure, you\u2019re not alone. Dental\r\nanxiety is a very common thing as going to the dentist can conjure up\r\nfrightening images for young and old alike, particularly with alien\r\ninstruments used inside the mouth and masked professionals staring\r\nover you. It\u2019s not like films such as Marathon\r\nMan<\/em> (1976), Little\r\nShop of Horrors<\/em>\r\n(1986) and even Finding\r\nNemo<\/em> (2003) have\r\nshone dentists in a good light either. \r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

However,\r\nit\u2019s important to remember that dentists work in a caring\r\nprofession. As experts at maintaining your teeth, they will make your\r\nexperience as easy and calming as can possibly be. Here are some ways\r\nto deal with dental anxiety:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Tell your dentist<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If\r\nyou\u2019re nervous or worrying, tell your dentist. Whether you feel\r\nembarrassed to tell them or not, most dentists will understand and\r\nwould have dealt with a wide spectrum of different people, from cool\r\ncats to nervous wrecks. With this in mind, they can take it slow and\r\nsteady, allowing for plenty of breaks. As well as this, you can\r\nassign some hand signals to alert your dentist in case it gets too\r\nmuch and they will happily stop for a moment.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Listen to something\r\ncalming<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Whether\r\nit\u2019s a ten minute check-up or an hour and a half procedure under\r\nlocal anaesthetic, why not listen to something to distract yourself?\r\nThis could be an audiobook of one of your favourites, an interesting\r\npodcast or some meditative music. Make sure it\u2019s not too funny,\r\nupsetting or upbeat to listen to, otherwise you\u2019ll be laughing\r\nalong, stressing even more or tapping along with the rhythm which can\r\ndisrupt your dentist and make your situation even worse.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Don\u2019t forget to\r\nbreath<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When\r\nnervous or anxious, people can forget to breathe properly and instead\r\nbreathing becomes difficult and panicked. Leaving your mouth open for\r\na long period of time can feel constricting at the dentist\u2019s, but\r\nremember to relax, keep breathing through it and you\u2019ll be\r\nsurprised at how fine you feel.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Avoid caffeine<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Of\r\nall the foods and drinks to avoid before a stressful event, you\r\nshould strive to avoid caffeine as much as you can throughout the\r\nday. Caffeine is a stimulant that can set you on edge and increase\r\nyour heart rate, meaning that anxiety gets even worse. As a central\r\nnervous system stimulant, caffeine can react in a way that can make\r\nyou confused, make you irritable and cause nauseousness, which is the\r\nlast thing you need when going into an already nerve-wracking dental\r\nappointment.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When\r\ngoing to the dentist, make sure you choose a professional who is\r\npersonable, caring and takes your needs into consideration. At\r\nRiverside Dental\r\nPractice<\/strong>, our\r\nexpert dentists in Stirling can provide you with high-class\r\ntreatments, whether it\u2019s a check up, a procedure or cosmetic\r\ntreatment. To find out more, get\r\nin touch<\/a>\r\nwith us today or book an appointment on 01786 464 285.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you experience dentophobia (a fear of the dentist) or you generally get nervous ahead of upcoming check-ups or a dental procedure, you\u2019re not alone. Dental anxiety is a very common thing as going to the dentist can conjure up frightening images for young and old alike, particularly with alien instruments used inside the mouth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1238,"href":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113\/revisions\/1238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riversidedentalpractice.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}