Few people eagerly await their turn in the dentist’s chair. However, severe anxiety gets in the way of millions of Americans by keeping them from searching for the right preventative care. The outcomes of this problem may reach outside the scope of dental pain or lost teeth.

What Is Dental Anxiety?

Dental anxiety has been referred to by several interchangeable names including dental phobia, dental fear, odontophobia, or dentophobia in the literature. Phobia stems from a real, specific stimulus such as a needle, whereas anxiety can be considered anticipatory in nature. Regardless of categorization, an individual’s response is alike in both situations.

Dental anxiety and phobia are conditions that play a major role in getting people to avoid dentists and significant dental treatments. People undergoing anxiety experience enhanced stress and uneasiness while visiting the dentist and are consequently unwilling to see the dentist.

How Common Is Dental Anxiety?

If the prospect of meeting a dentist puts you on edge, you surely aren’t alone.

• Actually, almost 40 million Americans avoid dental visits because of anxiety or fear, as reported by the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine.
• The American Association of Endodontists discovered in a survey that 80 percent of American adults fear dentists.
• More dental fear is reported in cases of women and children than in men.

Why Do Some People Fear Dentists?

People face anxiety during dental visits for various reasons:

• Fear of painful sensations.
• Negative recollection of past traumatic experiences
• Fear of needles or injections going into their gums.
• Fear of drilling tools or its sound and vibrations.
• Embarrassment about hapless dental hygiene or poor breath.
• Fear of sedation.
• Feeling of helplessness or confinement in the dental chair.

What Are the Effects of Dental Anxiety?

The more you postpone or simply refuse dental visits, the more you risk acquiring dental problems that can make your future dental visits a lot more challenging.

Avoiding the dentist can lead to deterioration from dental disease, a greater necessity for emergency care or complicated treatment. It can also be promoting the underlying issue of dental anxiety. This is called the ‘vicious series of dental anxiety’.

Most dental illness is lifestyle-related and avoidable. By avoiding dental visits, not only are you potentially going to require more complex treatments upon your visit eventually, but you are also lacking in gaining information on better oral health care.

How We Assess Dental Anxiety

At Plaza Dental Group, we believe you should get the best possible dental care, and that implies ensuring that you feel settled and in control at each level of your treatment.

Ahead of your treatment, our dentist will communicate with you suitably to discover the reason for any concerns, so as to relax your mind. We will discuss all of your treatment steps with you, so you are aware of what to anticipate and when. You need not worry because our team is skilled at detecting and aiding anxious patients, and are accommodating to move at a pace that’s comfortable for you.

How We Care for Patients with Dental Anxiety

Regardless of your cause for dental anxiety, at Plaza Dental Group, our compassionate dental team will take good care of your dental and emotional health. We strive to offer superior care to our patients while discovering methods to help them relax during any treatment process and encourage them to seek their necessary dental care in the future.