How to Overcome Fear of The Dentist: 6 Practical Tips!

Your next dental appointment is coming up? If only it wasn’t for this damn fear of the dentist! We will help you with 6 practical tips.

Who’s afraid of the white man? Almost all patients, actually. Only every fourth American goes to the dentist relaxed. All others often feel queasy at the mere thought of terms such as dentures or periodontitis.

Five percent of the patients even suffer from a real dental phobia and do not go to the dentist at all – the strongest form of all anxiety patients.

Do you find yourself an anxiety patient? With the right strategies, your next visit to the dentist’s office won’t be a big hurdle.

Fear of the dentist? 6 practical tips

1. Right choice of dentist

Trust and sympathy are decisive criteria in the selection process. You can’t communicate your fears and worries to your current dentist? Look around for alternatives for your dental treatment. Above all, ask friends and family for recommendations and then convince yourself personally.

2. Positive mood

• If you can’t sleep for 3 days before going to the dentist’s office, then you should definitely shift your focus. Deal with things that you enjoy. Go to the movies, listen to your favorite music or meet up with good friends for dinner. Try to consciously distract yourself so that you hardly have to think about your teeth anymore. Even if you are already sitting in the waiting room, you can still listen to atmospheric music.
• Little tip: When you smile, the physical movement of your lips is automatically transmitted to your psyche. You cannot laugh and be afraid at the same time. The same goes for gratitude. What makes you happy and content? Psychologist Dr. Henning Freund explains how you can learn gratitude in a targeted way.

3. Local anaesthesia

• Especially people who went to the dentist in the 80s suffer from dental anxiety. Nowadays, however, there are local anaesthetics that work quickly and effectively.
• If nothing helps, you still have the option of anesthesia. However, general anaesthesia always involves risks and probably won’t help you overcome your dental phobia permanently.
• Under general anaesthesia you will not feel any pain, but you will not be able to give the dentist any feedback. Without an anaesthetic, it is best to discuss a signal with your dentist in advance. This is a signal to your dentist to let him know if you feel any pain while your teeth are being treated.

4. Regular visits

• The longer you postpone your visit to the dentist, the greater your fear of the dentist becomes. If you go for a check-up every year, you worry less about your teeth!
• If you change dentists, you can also make an appointment to get to know each other first. This will give you a feeling for your surroundings and the dentist. The actual appointment afterwards will be more pleasant.

5. Therapy for real phobia

Dental treatment is officially recognized as a phobia. Your health insurance will cover the cost of treatment. The chances of success are extremely positive that you will be able to get your dental phobia under control afterwards. 😉

6. Hypnosis

• Many dentists are also specialized in hypnosis. Why don’t you try this technique and see if it alleviates your dental fear.
• Some dentists work with distraction mechanisms during the treatment of anxiety patients. With music or even movies, your dentures quickly fade into the background.
• Hypnosis can help you achieve many goals, e.g. losing weight with hypnosis!