• Dental Phobia Support

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Looking for a Dentist - North West England

C

chngbat

Junior member
Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Messages
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Hi, i'm currently living in Preston and need to find a dentist in the north/north west who is good with anxious patients. I have put off going for years as i have such anxiety that i burst into tears just walking in a surgery waiting room.

Ideally i'd be looking for a dentist where i can be under general anaesthetic as part of my fear is caused by my other big phobia which is needles so a local anaesthetic is almost impossible for me to handle

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as i'm becoming more and more concerned i am going to cause irreparable damage to my teeth the longer i leave this
 
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Dentists have pretty much given up doing general anaesthetics, nowadays these are only done in hospital with an anaesthetist present - no-one wants to take the risk of giving a general without having all the necessary equipment and experience to deal with any problems that might arise. You may though be able to find a dentist who is prepared to refer you on to hospital if you need a number of extractions.

Nowadays many dentists use IV sedation, which by all accounts is nearly as good (I've not had it myself so I can't comment directly.) Yes this is given via a needle, but then so are general anaesthetics so there's no escape there.

Whichever way you go the important first step is to find a sympathetic dentist, and they are out there. Good luck in your search !


John
 
Nowadays many dentists use IV sedation, which by all accounts is nearly as good (I've not had it myself so I can't comment directly.) Yes this is given via a needle, but then so are general anaesthetics so there's no escape there.

There is some escape for needle phobics - you can use topical anaesthetic cream on the i/v site, breathe nitrous gas/take anxiety meds prior to i/v insertion and in the case of a general anaesthetic, this can be inducted using gasses rather than i/v initially if that is the patient's preference (discuss with anaesthetist).
To OP since needles are part of life and can be life-saving it is probably best to find a dentist who will work with you to overcome your phobia - dental needles are actually and surprisingly some of the best around since they can be pain-free if administered in the correct way.

Other needles can be pretty atraumatic as well especially i/v insertion if the topical creams are used on the site beforehand. Even without topical, they can be a teeny scratch and no big deal but psychologically you can't see that at the moment.

There is a dentist in Liverpool (Andrew Healy) who has had good feedback on his pain-free local anaesthetic delivery for dentistry - could you travel there? The North West dentist finder is here.

He also does i/v sedation but seems to be happy to spend the time to get you over the actual fear by his pain-free technique. If I lived in that area he would be my first choice.
 
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