Overcome Dental Anxiety: The True Value of Sedation Dentistry

If the thought of visiting a dentist sounds like a nightmare, you’re not alone. Fear of the dentist is among the most common phobias, and it can be debilitating. Even if you normally feel comfortable at routine dental visits, procedures like a filling or crown may make you hesitant or nervous. If you’re struggling with dental anxiety, Monterey Peninsula Dental Group has your back. Let’s take a look at the signs of dental anxiety, and what we can do to help you overcome it to enjoy better oral health without stress.

Do You Have Dental Anxiety?

Everyone feels nervous at the dentist, right? Maybe not. While the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of the dental office can put many people on edge, fear of the dentist can become a major obstacle that makes it difficult to get the care you need. But it doesn’t have to be that way! In fact, many people find dental visits relaxing and even look forward to them.

If that sounds impossible, you might have dental anxiety. Here are a few signs that you may need a little help managing your discomfort:

• Sweating, trembling, or racing pulse at the dental office
• Difficulty sleeping the night before a dental appointment
• Finding that you frequently reschedule or cancel dental visits
• Putting off needed care, even though you know you’ll feel better afterward
• Feeling like you want to withdraw or shut down during dental visits
• Using humor or deflection to downplay your discomfort
• Feeling hostile, irritable, or even aggressive in the dental chair
• Difficulty breathing, nausea, low blood pressure or feeling faint
• Feeling like you want to cry when talking to dental professionals
• Giddiness or uncontrollable giggling even though you’re uncomfortable
• Panic attacks before, during, or shortly after a dental appointment

It’s important to understand that dental anxiety can manifest in many ways, and fear of the dentist doesn’t always feel like being scared. In fact, it may come out as feeling suspicious of dentists in general, or being consistently “too busy” to make it to your dental visits.

If you feel like you may be struggling with dental anxiety, identifying the root cause can be a great first step in overcoming it.

What Causes Dental Anxiety?

Fear of the dentist is unique to each person who struggles with it, and it can come from many different places. In many cases, fear of the dentist may start with an experience in your own past. However, it can frequently come from hearing about other people’s bad experiences, even if dental visits have always gone smoothly for you.

Here are a few of the most common triggers for dental anxiety:

• Fear of pain, needles, or medical staff in general
• Fear of choking, gagging, or feeling like you don’t have control of your situation
• Feeling uncomfortable being physically close to other people
• Discomfort or feeling vulnerable lying down with others standing over you
• Sensory issues, such as sensitivity to lights, sounds, flavors, or textures
• Worries about previous injuries to the head, face, or teeth
• Difficulty getting or staying numb during dental treatments
• Bad experiences with a dentist in the past
• Shame about your current oral health or the state of your teeth

In many cases, it can be hard to determine exactly what bothers you about seeing a dentist. However, if you are able to determine specific triggers for your dental anxiety, let us know! We can frequently change how we do things to help you feel more comfortable.

Strategies to Manage Dental Anxiety

There are several ways we can help you manage your dental fears to make visits more comfortable. For example, bringing headphones and your favorite playlist can cover sounds that bother you while providing a valuable distraction. Sunglasses to dim the bright light and a stress ball or fidget toy can also be helpful.

Our team can set up a signal such as raising your hand to let us know if you need a break, which can be incredibly helpful if you’re worried about choking, gagging, or becoming overwhelmed. We’re also happy to provide numbing gel or local dental anesthesia (numbing injections) to minimize physical discomfort when needed.

One of the most effective ways we can help you manage dental anxiety is with sedation dentistry in Monterey.

Sedation Dentistry: Say Goodbye to Your Dental Fear

Sedation dentistry can be a game-changer when it comes to overcoming dental anxiety. In fact, it can frequently help people overcome their fear of the dentist completely by building positive experiences and memories in the dental office. This gives your body and mind a chance to change its expectations and associations related to dental care.

Over time and with repeated calm, relaxing, and comfortable visits, most people with dental anxiety realize that the thought of going to a dental appointment no longer feels overwhelming, scary, or hostile. Instead, many of our patients tell us they actually start to look forward to seeing us!

Dental anesthesia can also be incredibly effective in preventing dental phobias from starting in the first place. For example, if you need a more involved procedure like dental implant surgery or a tooth extraction, sedation dentistry ensures a smooth, painless experience so that you can continue to feel confident in the dental office after your procedure.

Is Sedation Dentistry Worth It?

Some people are hesitant to consider sedation dentistry because of the added cost. However, it’s important to consider how this relatively small investment can pay dividends over time.

The Cost of Dental Anxiety

Avoiding dental treatments because of anxiety gives oral health issues time to get worse. The longer issues are allowed to progress, the more complex and expensive it becomes to treat them.

Putting off a simple filling because of anxiety will lead to your cavity growing larger and deeper into the tooth. Without timely care, this can turn a cavity into a crown, root canal treatment, or even the need to remove the tooth and replace it with a bridge or dental implant. With safe and effective sedation dentistry, you can nip these problems in the bud and avoid much higher treatment costs later.

Giving Your Smile a Second Chance

If you’ve been struggling with dental fears for a long time, your smile may already have suffered. But don’t lose hope! With sedation dentistry in Monterey, we can give your oral health a complete reset. Sedation allows us to perform complex treatments comfortably while you relax, and enables us to combine multiple treatments into fewer appointments so you can get a fresh start without dragging things out.

A clean bill of dental health can give you peace of mind, allow you to eat comfortably again, and restore your confidence. In many cases, overcoming this first major obstacle is all it takes to leave your dental anxiety in the past!

We’re Proud to Provide Effective and Affordable Dental Sedation in Monterey

It’s our mission to make comfortable dental care as simple as possible, which is why we’re proud to provide safe, effective, and affordable sedation dentistry in Monterey, CA. Whether it’s been a while since you felt comfortable seeing a dentist or you’re looking for a dental office that helps you feel at home, we’re here for you.

Get in touch with our team to talk about how we can help you enjoy better oral health and overcome your dental anxiety, Monterey!