Helping Those With Anxiety Relax During Dental Appointments in St John’s Wood
Tools and techniques to help overcome dental phobia.
Dental phobia affects a huge number of people in the UK and prevents many people from receiving the dental care they deserve. Many things result in dental phobia including;
● Hearing a scary story about a dentist visit from someone else and fearing your own visit
● Having a bad experience as a child or an adult
● Having your own painful experience
● Fearing the noises, smell or tools used at the dentist
● A fear of the unknown
● A fear of being judged
A dental phobia is commonly quite extreme and prevents a person from visiting the dentist and maybe even from calling or even thinking about a visit. If you suffer from a dental phobia, you likely need support from Abbey Road Dental in St John’s Wood who have staff experienced in helping you overcome your phobia using various techniques and skills. All you have to do is get in touch, or get a friend or family member to get in touch and we can work with you.
Perhaps you don’t have dental anxiety to the extreme of it being a phobia? Maybe instead you have an anxiety or worry about the dentist that causes every single visit to be uncomfortable for you but you still manage to attend? If this is the case, then there are plenty of tools you can use to help you relax during your next dental appointment. Of course, here at Abbey Road Dental we make every effort to create a relaxed, supportive, comfortable environment for you to receive your dental care, but how you respond when you visit us can be greatly influenced by the homework you put in during your own time.
Here are some tips to help you build the tools for a calm and relaxed dental visit:
Breathing Techniques
There are many breathing techniques that you can learn to help you calm down in any situation, including a dental visit. The best thing about breathing techniques is there is one to suit everyone, so you should be able to find one to work for you. One popular breathing technique is ‘square breathing’ where you imagine a square and you breathe for four along one side, hold for four at the corner, breathe for four along the other side and so on.
Another great technique is to imagine that your breath is filling your lungs up to blow away an imaginary balloon gently, so you breathe in for four, then imagine a balloon and slowly breathe out to blow it away. There are lots of different techniques to try, and once you find one that works for you, you can use it in lots of different scenarios to help keep you calm.
Self Hypnosis
Self hypnosis is something many people use to help them become calm when things are stressful. Common self hypnosis videos use powerful visualisations that you can tune into when you need to, to find your place of calm. Often people have a ‘special place’ they go to in their head, like a relaxing garden, a beach, a safety bubble, or anywhere you can imagine in depth to help you feel safe. Visualisations like this come in really handy during treatments that you may worry about.
Speak To Abbey Road Dental About Your Concerns
If you have dental anxiety or phobia and want support in overcoming it, please do not hesitate to call us on 02076241603 and our St John’s team will be more than happy to discuss different ways we can help you get the dental treatment you need and deserve.