Treating Nervous Patients

  • waiting room

“The team at Gipsy Lane Advanced Dental Care were amazing. I have an extreme fear of the dentist and the whole team were very kind and accommodating, making sure I knew exactly what needed to be done.

When it came to having my root canal treatment they managed to calm my nerves and talked me through every step. Dr Chandegra was brilliant”

Nervous Patients

We have years of experience in dealing with anxious patients, and as well as being able to offer understanding and support for nervous patients, Reading our dentists and support team can also offer practical help in the form of IV and oral sedation. We treat all our patients with the utmost care and respect. If you are nervous or anxious we also provide additional services to help you relax. Whether you are preparing for a complex procedure or nervous about your next dental visit, we are here to help.

Many people are so anxious that they won’t visit a dentist. But, please, do not suffer in silence. We can help you to overcome your fears and calm your nerves. Sedation helps to induce complete relaxation and will enable you to feel calm before and during treatment.

Sedation causes you to feel relaxed and a little drowsy, but you will not lose consciousness and will still be able to cooperate with the dentist. Throughout the procedure, you will remain relaxed and not experience any pain.

It can take a little time for the effects to wear off following the use of sedation. The dentist will advise how long it will take for the drug to wear off. During this time you should avoid driving, operating machinery and drinking alcohol.

Fear of the dentist

Dental fears are usually a result of an unpleasant experience in the past. Maybe as a child, you had the misfortune to have had a bad experience with a dentist who pushed you into a chair, poked around in your mouth, grunted and then proceeded to cause you discomfort. So is it any wonder you don’t like the thought of going to the dentist?

If you haven’t been to the dentist for a while you will find things are probably very different to the last time you went. Most dentists want people to have healthy teeth and don’t want to do any more work than is necessary. It is in their interests to make sure that their patients have the very best possible experience so that they keep coming back.

People don’t always know where or how the fear started, sometimes because it was so unpleasant that their mind has blocked it out. That doesn’t matter. We are not dealing with what happened in the past, we are dealing with what you want to happen now and in the future.

Sometimes there are other issues related to going to the dentist. Examples are fear of needles, a strong reflex gag reaction because you don’t like things in your mouth, feeling out of control, the sound of the drill or even just the feeling of the chair reclining. Sometimes it can be linked with a fear of authority figures, often stemming from bullying or abuse.

If you have not visited a dentist for a long time, other issues may come into play. People often develop feelings of embarrassment or guilt, particularly if they have broken, decayed or discoloured teeth. They are worried the dentist will ‘tell them off’ because they haven’t visited a dentist for a long time. All of these fears and concerns can be helped by having an informal visit to the practice to meet one of our Reception or Management team, who will give you a guided tour and answer any questions about the practice or the services we offer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I be sedated at the dentist’s?

Yes. We truly do understand how scary a trip to the dentist can be for some people, which is why we offer both oral and IV sedation to help put you at ease during your treatments. For severely anxious patients, we can offer sedatives for most treatments, even for those which are non-invasive.

So, if you’re worried and are looking for a dentist for nervous patients, we believe we can help.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you go to the dentist if you are scared?

Often the first step can be the most frightening, and we see this a lot in patients who choose to come to us after many months or years without seeing a dentist. Almost always, the experience is nowhere near as bad as you build it up to be in your head, and our friendly team are very experienced in helping nervous patients. From our warm and welcoming clinic to our thorough approach, we have done everything to put patients at ease from the beginning.

If you’re nervous or scared and don’t know how to take the first step, why not pop in for an informal visit? You don’t need to even sit in the dentist’s chair, but we can show you around and answer any questions you have. Most patients feel that doing this first helps to break the ice and shows them that the dental environment can be less scary than they thought.

How common is dental anxiety?

Ask any dentist for nervous patients and they will be able to tell you just how common this type of issue actually is. There are loads of different reasons for why someone might feel anxious about a trip to the dentist, whether it’s because of a negative past experience or hearing stories from friends or family, but the truth is this is very common – and nothing to be ashamed of!

Whilst some dentists can make you feel on edge, the team here at Gipsy Lane are accustomed to supporting patients who feel worried about their dental trip, and we’re always on hand to offer advice, support or a listening ear.

Will I always need dental sedation?

There is no one answer to this, as it really depends on how severe your case is. Gingivitis can be cleared within a couple of weeks, but if you’ve got more severe gum disease then treatment may be longer, and results will likely take longer too.

The important thing is to get checked out by a Periodontist in Reading as soon as you suspect something to be wrong as this will help to avoid any long-winded recovery.

All Our Services

From simple dentistry to full smile makeovers, Gipsy Lane Advanced Dental specialists provide excellent dental care alongside the very latest technology for all the family.

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