Having dental phobia means you have a paralyzing fear of going to the dentist. Studies have shown that about half of the people in the United States do not have regular dental care. Of these it is estimated that about nine to fifteen percent avoid regular care because of an anxiety or fear that surrounds their experience at the dentist. These means that about thirty to forty million people suffer from dental phobia.

Effects of Dental Phobia

Having a dental phobia have a serious effect on your health and well being. Not getting regular dental care can result in infected gums and teeth that can effect you entire medical health. At the same time your ability to chew and digest food is effected. If the damage gets worse it can also lead to problems with your speech and your confidence. This can even cause limitations on your social and business life.

Origins of Dental Phobia

There are various sources that can lead to dental phobia. These sources typically come from anxiety or a strongly conditioned fear. The following are few of the reasons for dental phobia:

A painful or negative experience during one of your previous dental visits. This can even include any careless comments by one of the medical staff.
Feeling discomfort as a result of being out of control in a dental situation.
Embarrassment in your dental neglect or a fear that you will be ridiculed about your dental hygiene in the office.
Scary dental experiences that you hear about from family or friends.
Negative views of dentists that you might see in a movie, television show, newspaper or magazine.
Feeling depersonalized as a result of the barrier precautions such as masks and gloves during the dental process.
A fear of the unknown that will happen during a dental appointment.

What To Do About Your Dental Phobia

The first thing to do is realize that you can overcome a dental phobia. There are behavior modification techniques that can help you overcome your fears. You need to have communication with your dentist so that you can make it a group effort. Become comfortable when expressing your fears and concerns about the dental process to your dentist. If they are genuine they will listen to you and you will feel more comfortable going to them for a dental visit. If they do not take interest in you then you can seek out another dentist to go to.

There is also a specific Dental Phobia Treatment Center in New York that uses a controlled form of exposure therapy to help people overcome their dental phobias. Studies have found that this form of treatment is very successful because people are gradually exposed to the dental treatment process in an environment that is relaxing and welcoming.

However, if you want to overcome your dental phobia by yourself then the first thing you must do is gain a sense of control. To do this you can ask your dentist to clarify all the procedures that happen and don't walk away until you are satisfied that you have all the information you need. Once you feel in control of the situation is can be less fearful.

The second thing to do is learn physical relaxation techniques which can help you relax when you are in the dentist chair. Physical relaxation is easier than mental relaxation and will help your whole body to relax.

Finally you should use distraction techniques that are available in many dentist offices. A good way to do this is to bring a CD player and use it as an auditory distraction. However, these distraction techniques only work once you have developed a confidence and trust in your doctor and the techniques being performed.

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