Practical Tips for Overcoming Dental Anxiety Before Your Next Appointment

Giving advice to an anxious patient to simply "relax" is almost equivalent to suggesting to someone with insomnia to just "sleep". The advice itself is not incorrect, but the action is not as simple as the words. Dental anxiety is common among about 36% of the population and it all derived from one particular sensation: losing control. Re-establish control, and most of the anxiety will disappear.

Establish control before the appointment starts

The most important thing you can do before any treatment is to establish a stop-work signal with your provider. A predetermined hand gesture, like raising your left hand, that automatically calls treatment off. The dentist stops.

The magic isn't in the signal. It's in knowing that there is one. The bulk of the stress you carry into that chair is because you feel trapped, because you believe there's no escape. A stop-work signal rewrites the emotional contract. You're not a patient. You're a client. And you can call time any time you want.

Demand it on your intake call or at the outset of your appointment. And don't accept any dentist who won't offer it.

Tell your provider exactly what bothers you

It's hard to work around vague anxiety. Specific triggers, though, are quite manageable. Saying "I'm nervous about this" to a provider is not the same as saying "the smell of the office makes me tense, and I feel calmer when I know what you're about to do."

People can't adjust to what they don't know. But if you highlight your specific triggers - scent, sound, the sight of a needle, the taste of latex gloves - a good team will adjust. Maybe they'll burn a calming oil before your visit. Maybe they'll give you a few moments with a flavored rinse to distract your taste buds from the gloves.

Finding a provider who makes this kind of adaptation routine isn't easy, but it's worth it. A Dentist Wasilla residents trust and recommend to each other is going to be a provider who respects and listens to their triggers and strives to minimize their impact.

Time your appointment to manage anticipatory anxiety

Worrying about an appointment is quite common. Sometimes, that worry can build up so much it turns into dread. The closer you get to the time you have to leave, the worse it becomes. That's anticipatory anxiety and it can be worse than the appointment itself.

Booking an early morning appointment starts that clock later. You only have to deal with a few minutes or maybe an hour or so of that dread before you pack up and get moving. That's a lot easier to tackle than three, four, five, or more hours of it. You won't eliminate the issue entirely, but early in the morning is easier to handle than with a long evening lead-in.

Use your body to override the stress response

The 4-7-8 breath, which involves breathing in for four counts, holding that breath for seven counts, and exhaling for eight counts, also activates the parasympathetic nervous system. It's a specific form of diaphragmatic breathing, and it directly lowers your heart rate. But here's the catch. It's most effective if you begin in the waiting room, before you're even called to the dentist's chair.

The reason this breath is so magical is that your nervous system can't be in fight-or-flight mode while you're exhaling. A longer exhalation relieves anxiety by shifting your nervous system from a sympathetic fight-or-flight response to a parasympathetic calming response. It's hard-wired in your body; the stress falls away as soon as you start to exhale slowly and calmly. Four. Seven. Eight.

Whether giving yourself a mental image, like holding a photograph of a loved one while savoring the in-breath, works for you, go for it. Some patients skip the mental image and listen to calming music; the noise of a dentist's office has been shown to increase anxiety (the high pitch and unpredictability are triggers for the brain to feel uneasy). Music you like on your headphones will override this anxiety-producing loop beautifully.

Understand your sedation options

For patients who cannot manage their anxiety, such as those suffering from dentophobia or general medical anxiety, several clinical alternatives do not necessitate confronting your fears throughout treatment.

Nitrous oxide is the most common. It will make you feel relaxed in minutes, wear off minutes after they turn off the tap, and leaves no trace in your body by the time you walk out the door. Oral sedation involves taking a pill when you arrive, producing a more profound calming effect that may be necessary for longer treatments or more significant anxiety. Anesthetic shots block all pain signals from the affected area several hours if needed.

And none of those options mean you can't use the others if you want to. It's not sedation or nothing: you can opt in or out of greater anxiety control based on the treatment, using more or less for anything from bi-annual cleanings to full extractions.

The practical part

You don't need a diagnosis for any of this, or a therapist. You need one five-second honest conversation with your doctor before you start your appointment. It goes like this: "I am scared truthfully." Then you ask the question, "What's the signal to shut it down?" And then you bring out your new headphones. Finally, you book early.