It is important to learn how to identify dental phobia when it impacts your life. A great many people experience dental phobia, which can cause them to avoid having their teeth cleaned and examined on a regular basis. Taking the steps to identify dental phobia can help you to manage your fear and protect your teeth. Here are a few important things to keep in mind about dental anxiety or phobia.
Managing your Dental Phobia
If you think that you have dental phobia, it is important to ensure that you understand the best steps for managing your dental anxiety. Implementing a distraction can go a long way toward reducing the amount of anxiety that you experience. This can include anything from listening to music to bringing a friend to the appointment. Meditation, deep breathing techniques, and guided imagery are additional strategies that can help you to handle your dental-related anxiety. Many dentists offer various medications to help ease your anxiety levels throughout your dental visit, so contact us to learn more about the best ways we can manage your dental phobia throughout your dental service.
How to Identify Dental Phobia
Familiarizing yourself with the various signs of dental phobia can go a long way toward helping you to identify when you are experiencing it. Everyone exhibits their emotions slightly differently, so it is important to be aware of all the different signs of dental anxiety. This can help you to determine whether you or a loved one has dental anxiety, which will allow you to take the steps to handle the fear.
Sweating
Sweating is a common symptom of anxiety or extreme nervousness. If you notice that you sweat more when you are visiting the dentist or thinking about your upcoming dental exam, it is highly likely that the thought of the dentist is making you nervous. This is just one sign that is extremely common when an individual has dental phobia.
Racing Heartbeat
The heartbeat often picks up a significant amount when an individual experiences strong emotions. The same thing applies to substantial feelings of anxiety or fear. If your heartbeat increases when you think of the dentist, it is possible that you have dental phobia.
Fainting
Fear can cause the blood pressure to lower, which can make an individual faint. Fainting is a severe sign that you are experiencing dental phobia. Pay attention to either physically fainting or having feelings of faintness when you are at the dental office. If you have fainted because of dental anxiety, it is highly likely you will have to take substantial steps to get your fear under control.
Visible Distress
Visible distress can manifest in many ways, including fidgeting, body language, and facial expressions. These signs are often most apparent in other people, so this may be what you want to look for when you are trying to determine if your children or other loved ones are experiencing dental phobia.
Avoiding Dental Visits
It is extremely common for an individual to avoid dental visits if they have dental anxiety. However, this can lead to exceptional issues with the health of the teeth. It is important to visit the dentist around every 6 months in order to protect your oral health. Putting off dental visits often has a snowball effect, because it can lead to additional issues with the teeth and the smile.
Crying
Crying or feeling the desire to cry is extremely common when you are experiencing high levels of anxiety. Pay attention to your emotions when you are thinking about a visit to the dental office. This is also an important sign that a child is experiencing dental anxiety, so pay attention if your child cries regularly in response to visits to the dentist.
Withdrawal
Significant anxiety often makes people feel like withdrawing inside of themselves. Pay attention to any indication that you or a loved one wants to do this in response to thinking about the dental office. Other common reactions include inexplicable feelings of anger or frustration.
Feeling Physically Sick
Physical sensations are extremely common in individuals that are experiencing high levels of anxiety. Becoming physically sick is a common sign of dental phobia. This will often arise whenever an individual thinks about an upcoming dental exam or even the moment that they enter the waiting room. If you only feel physically sick during these times, it is possible that the feelings are simply a result of anxiety related to the dental visit. However, if they occur more often, it is possible that you are actually sick, so keep this in mind. Also pay attention to this sign in combination with multiple other signs.
Difficulty Sleeping
Difficulty sleeping is common for those that have anxiety regarding the dentist. This occurs especially the night prior to the appointment. Pay attention to why you may have difficulty sleeping, especially as the dental appointment draws nearer. A lack of sleep can also make it much more difficult to handle the negative emotions that are associated with dental anxiety or phobia.
Causes of Dental Anxiety or Phobia
There are many reasons that dental anxiety or phobia may arise. Understanding the cause of your dental phobia can go a long way toward helping you to effectively manage your fear. Many people experience anxiety because they feel a loss of control throughout the process of a dental exam. In addition, negative past experiences often leads to substantial issues with dental anxiety. This can cause an individual to continue to avoid dental visits. Fear of pain that may come with a dental visit often results in dental phobia.
Dental phobia is extremely common and is no reason to completely forego necessary dental visits. At Hendersonville Family Dental, we are dedicated to providing you with the various services that you need to protect your oral health, even if you have dental-related anxiety. If you think that you have dental anxiety, you should consult with our experienced staff to learn more about the best methods for managing it. To learn more about the impact of dental phobia and how to determine if you have it, contact us at Hendersonville Family Dental today!