Spodak Dental Group Offers Aid for the Anxious
Delray Beach, Florida (PRWEB) February 06, 2014 -- Do you suffer from fear of the dentist? You’re not alone. As many as 40 million Americans share your fear, with some 4 to 8 million so fearful that they avoid dental visits all together. Sadly, avoiding the dentist leads to declining oral health, generating greater fear and anxiety, continuing the cycle of anxiety and avoidance.
The types of fear can range from minor anxiety to various forms of psychiatric disorders, such as dentophobia (an inordinate fear of dental treatment), aichmophobia (a pathological fear of all sharp objects) or trypanophobia (an extreme or irrational fear of needles). For others, their fear may be triggered by the sights, sounds or smells of the dental office or the confines of the dental chair.
Regardless of fear’s form of ferocity, it’s difficult for people to visit their dentist unless the pain becomes unbearable.
What Dentists Are Doing to Help
Helping patients hurdle the obstacles of their fear should be the priority of every practice. Through the skilled use of sedation, dentists can manage their patients’ fear and pain. For many, local anesthesia may be all that’s needed to achieve a calm and pain-free experience. For others with mild to moderate anxiety, oral sedation or nitrous oxide (laughing gas) can be used for relaxation.
Those with heightened anxiety can benefit from conscious IV sedation. Unlike oral medications, conscious IV sedation affords the dentist the ability to control the degree of sedation throughout the procedure, as needed, to ensure the patient’s optimal comfort and ease. The administration of IV sedation requires special training and certification. Placing your care in the hands of a fully-qualified practitioner will increase your confidence and quiet your anxiety.
For patients with extreme anxiety, or those facing complex or lengthy procedures, IV sleep sedation is a fear-quieting option.
Sleep Dentistry
Genuine Sleep Dentistry is both fully tranquilizing and fully amnesiac, allowing you to relax and not focus on the sights, sounds and smells of the dental office.
Until now, though, most patients had to bear the high cost, inconvenience and added stress of hospitalization in order to safely take advantage of the benefits, but no longer. Sleep Dentistry, which is administered in the dental office, allows the dentist to erase years of neglect in one visit, enabling patients to receive the care they desperately need.
If you are still nervous about visiting your dentist, make a call and talk with him/her to see what steps can be taken to ease you into visiting and getting proper healthcare. It’s never too late to receive optimal dental health, and don’t let your fear take a beautiful smile away from you.
Terra Spero, Spodak Dental Group, http://www.spodakdental.com, +1 (561) 450-6966, [email protected]
Share this article