Excellent Article for the scholarly types...

[kitkat]

Hi All!
I'm attaching a link to an article I stumbled upon while surfing the net that I really loved that some of you may enjoy reading. The article is actually geared towards tips for dentists to employ to put patients at ease but it has a lot of great information and things that you can try on your own as patients. I especially liked the article because I found it to be very insightful to dental fears and how they work. The article is very thorough (and long) but very interesting and mentions quite a few research studies concerning dental phobia that I had not read before. Have a look if you're interested.

[broken link removed]

 

[carole]

I really enjoyed reading this it is very informative, I saw myself in some parts of that. Thanks kitkat

 

[kitkat]

I really enjoyed reading this it is very informative, I saw myself in some parts of that. Thanks kitkat

Me too carole. I felt like it explained some of my own behaviors and feelings very concisely. I read some parts nodding my head thinking "yep, that's me!"

 

[carole]

YEP we most certainly are in there

 

[comfortdentist]

I will say I differ on one aspect of that article. While drugs work well and if you only give drugs it does nothing to relieve future fears BUT if you give drugs along with patient management then it allows a patient to work with in a "dental therapy" and future appointments ARE easier.
In the 25 years I have sedated patients and worked with them only a small handfull needed to be drug in future appointments. For some it was one drugged appointment for others it was 2-4 but treated well the vast majority of patients do ok without drugs once the highest level of trust is established.

 

[kitkat]

I will say I differ on one aspect of that article. While drugs work well and if you only give drugs it does nothing to relieve future fears BUT if you give drugs along with patient management then it allows a patient to work with in a "dental therapy" and future appointments ARE easier.
In the 25 years I have sedated patients and worked with them only a small handfull needed to be drug in future appointments. For some it was one drugged appointment for others it was 2-4 but treated well the vast majority of patients do ok without drugs once the highest level of trust is established.

I totally agree with you ComfortdentistI have also read that from members experiences on this forum who worked with a caring dentist and used sedation initially and over time were able to wean off the sedation as a trusting relationship formed. So sedation alone is not a great solution but when combined with trust building techniques it definitely has it's place and can be a very useful therapeutic tool.

 

[carole]

I also agree with you comfortdentist, I personally wouldn't want sedation and as you say working with a dentist that you can build up a trust with certainly makes getting treatment easier. I myself have over the last couple of years worked with 4 different dentists all really patient and caring and I now have gone from a trembling wreck and having sleepless nights before appointments to not being worried before appointments and finding the treatment much easier to have.