When we think of improving dental health we think of sitting in a waiting room flipping through an unfolded magazine and learning about the latest trends in gardening, cooking, and a happy lifestyle. But there is much more to improving your dental health and it all has to do with going to the dentist. If you’re facing dental issues, you should sort out mouth sores at dentists in syracuse ny.
And yet, over 50% of Brits claim they are afraid of the dentist, and of those, 12% have a phobia of the dentist. Dental fears a problem that should be tackled though because oral hygiene is incredibly important when it comes to your overall health.
Overcoming mild anxiety
If you have mild dental anxiety, it means that you are nervous about the dentist and it causes a great deal of discomfort. More severe cases are where you panic and are terrified. You can treat this in some ways.
- Talk to your dentist
Talking to your dentist is the very first step in overcoming this fear. Communication is critical in anything, and you need to make sure that your dentist understands what your fears are so that they can help work with you at the time of your appointment to keep you relaxed. You might need to take regular breaks or have them talk to you, or not talk to you; you might need to look at what’s happening in your mouth or conversely not know what’s happening. If you let them know, they are better able to assist.
- Use breathing techniques to relax yourself
Control breathing will relieve your body and it will shift your focus from what is happening in your mouth to something better. When you are at the dentist, and you have a great deal of anxiety or discomfort you can use easy breathing techniques to inhale and exhale through your nose as you count to three slowly. Breathe in for three seconds and breathe out for three seconds. A lot of people have breathing issues when they feel something in their mouth, and this particular technique will prove very beneficial in helping you to overcome that.
- Use relaxation techniques to relax yourself as well
There are many relaxation tips that you might prefer. You could bring your special music playlist into your appointment or ask the nurse to talk to you about something to keep your mind off what’s happening. Different distraction techniques will work better or worse for individuals, so you need to find what works best for you and then stick with it.
Overcoming severe anxiety
The steps mentioned above are great for mild anxiety. But if you have severe anxiety, this is more of a psychological phobia. To overcome this, you might consider the following:
- Counseling
Counseling can help you to work with your issue, find the causes and perhaps work through it.
- Support networks
There are many people like you who have the same severe dental anxiety as you, and sometimes dental support networks can help you talk to other people in the same situation and get recommendations for good dentists who work with patients just like you.
- Sedation
While not a preferred treatment option regularly, sedation might just prove to be the best option for you if you have no other options on the table. Talk to your dentist about giving sedation a try the next time you have an appointment. Different sedation methods might prove more effective or less effective, so discuss each option with your dentist before choosing.
Two minutes per day
Remember, that in-between visits, you still need to work at your dental health. It might be rudimentary oral hygiene, but there are still roughly 7 million people who give cleaning their teeth the brush off and readily admit that they do not brush their teeth for two minutes a day, twice per day. It is difficult to believe that a simple four minutes out of our 24 hour day is a task too great to tackle especially given the impact that it has on our general health. Many people might make it a New Year’s resolution to go on a diet, quit smoking, and otherwise improve their general health, but few people consider oral health to be a priority.
This dental expert who does oral surgery in Worcester MA also highly recommends flossing at night. This will pevent bacterial growth between the gaps of your teeth.
Nonetheless, those who adopt good oral health routines will benefit from more than just improved dental care. Good oral health contributes potentially to avoiding serious health concerns like diabetes, heart disease, or strokes. There are many ways to improve dental health and as a dental practitioner, your job is to provide actionable education to each of your patients and to text with a qualifying supplier of dental equipment who can provide you with the resources necessary to give optimum dental services.
