If you’re nervous of the Dentist, even the thought of stepping through the front door of a practice can feel totally overwhelming.

Whether it’s because of bad previous experiences with dentists or an apprehension about feeling pain, it’s natural for patients to feel anxious and nervous before your appointment.

In fact, studies show that up to 53% of people in the UK are scared of the dentist

In other words, 1 in 2 people have some form of dental phobia. So it’s a huge problem for many in the UK.

My Top Tips

If you’re in a hurry, the best advice we can give is to consider if you would find IV Sedation for your Dental Treatment useful, use calming techniques like Meditation apps or relaxing music ahead of your appointment.

In this Article

If you suffer from dental phobia, what’s essential is knowing that you’re not alone and there’s tried and tested ways to manage that anxiety.

Here’s a short guide with tips to have the smoothest possible dental experience.

Book an Early Appointment

If you book an early appointment you won’t get the chance to spend all day worrying about your visit.

When you call up your Dentist, ask for the first appointment that day, and for any followup treatment to be pre-booked in the AM.

The other advantage is that the mornings will often be the least busy, so the waiting room won’t be as daunting.

What’s more, there tends to be fewer delays with early appointments, and we are at our best first thing in the morning! Our energy levels are high, and we’re eager to help you.

Consider a Form of Sedation

Sedation dentistry involves using medication to help you relax during dental procedures. Sedative medicine like Midazolam remove stress chemicals, easing dental phobia and feelings of being nervous during dental treatment.

There’s a range of options we can offer you, from minimal sedation (where you’re awake but relaxed) to general anaesthesia (where you’re completely unconscious). This will either be administered by IV Sedation or via inhalation.

What’s more, Sedation is an incredibly safe procedure. Midazolam has been used in millions of procedures globally within medical settings, so it has a wide degree of understanding in the dental profession.

Your wellbeing is always of paramount concern to us and we make sure you’re monitored throughout.

Calming Techniques

Your environment plays one of the biggest roles in how you feel.

And this is something you can influence, and prepare with even before you arrive.

By shaping your surroundings, we can set ourselves up with the best chances of success during the appointment itself.

Here’s what I always recommend to patients:

Bring Headphones

If the sound of the dental clinic unnerves you, consider bringing headphones and listening to music or a podcast.

Music has a real impact in reducing cortisol, the stress chemical our body releases.

So much so that this study showed a quite remarkable impact on patients undergoing spinal surgery.

Whilst Mozart might be more calming than Metallica, music has the effect of disassociating and reducing

And here at Danbury Dental Care, we’re always playing Zen music in our clinical rooms to create a relaxing ambience if you end up forgetting your Airpods!

Mindfulness & Breathing

Focus on your breathing in the run up to your appointment. In the waiting room, feel more centred and composed by using a meditation app like Calm.

PS – it’s worth pointing out Calm now has free meditations on Spotify

Communication Before the Appointment

Perhaps the most important advice we can give you is for you to simply talk to us about any worries or concerns you have.

Send us an email before your appointment, listing out your concerns and direclty ask the dental team for advice on overcoming fears of dental treatment.

The ideal dentist-patient relationship allows for open, trust based conversations which help you feel more in control. As Dentists, we want to build a good rapport with you so that we can truly optimise you

We’ll always do our best to accommodate your needs and reassure you. We are more than happy to explain any procedure or tool that might seem intimidating.