Have you heard about people having dental anxiety? It is real and needs to be handled well. Dental check-ups, though advised by the dental community, is not something that is established fully as a routine practice. This dental avoidance leads to poor oral health and increased dental complications.
You can get a better understanding about dental phobia by reaching out to Dr. Fred Knaysi, D.D.S in Henrico, Virginia.
Why Do People Fear Dental Treatment?
Dental fear is real. Below are some reasons why a person can suffer from dental phobia. Let’s take a look.
- Conditioning
Taking a cue from prior experience, a person relates a visit to the dentist as an unpleasant experience causing pain and discomfort and tries to avoid it. This can be changed by visiting a reliable dentist like Dr. Fred Knaysi.
- Informative
Based on the information accrued from reading, watching television, or hearing other people’s experiences, negative feelings are formed around a dental visit. It is important to gain your information from the right sources.
- Verbal Threat
Kids are often threatened that they would be taken to the dentist as a form of penalty for not doing something. This creates a negative impact on their minds about dental visits. The idea of going to the dentist must always be associated with a positive experience aimed to improve oral health.
Surveys on Dental Phobia
There are multiple surveys that have been done to prove this odontophobia or dental fear and anxiety are real, some of them being:
- Dental Fear Survey that has about 20 questions covering various situations in a dental setup.
- Modified Child anxiety Dental Scale(MCADS) where a child is asked to rate various factors around dental treatment.
- Corah’s Dental Anxiety Scale is used to grade the severity of the dental phobia.
Pediatric dentists are trained in child psychology so that dental treatment can be done with ease. Managing dental fear uses a wide variety of options from counselling to medications. Your fear of the dentist might be tied to an anxiety disorder. In such a scenario, a combination of therapy (exposure therapy) and medications (anti-anxiety medication) might be helpful.
Dr Fred Knaysi is a popular dentist who can help you overcome your dental fear. He has two clinics in the Henrico area. Schedule an appointment by calling on (804) 282-6005 or (804) 737-1182. You can visit our offices located at 8921 Three Chopt Rd #304, Henrico, VA 23229 or 1001 W Nine Mile Rd, Henrico, VA 23075.
