Is Dental Anxiety Keeping You From a Healthy Smile?

According to WebMD, between 9% and 20% of Americans avoid going to the dentist because of anxiety or fear. If you have an uneasiness about dental care, it is important that you understand the help that is available to you. Avoiding or putting off dental visits can lead to a variety of consequences, including worsening dental problems that warrant a more invasive, costly or lengthy treatment as well as issues within your overall health and well-being.

Causes of Dental Anxiety

For some patients, it helps to identify the root cause or reason for their dental anxiety. This can be a number of things, but most find that their dental fear is attributed to a negative experience at the dentist as a child. This could be a dental visit that resulted in unexpected pain or a dentist that wasn’t compassionate or gentle. For others, dental anxiety is a result of one or more of the following:

• Aversion to sights, sounds or smells at dental office
• Fear of needles
• Fear of being out of control
• Embarrassment of dental health condition
• Fear of pain
• Severe gag reflex

How A Sedation Dentist Can Help

If the thought of going to the dentist makes your palms sweat or your stomach turn, you should know what you can expect from a modern sedation dentist like Dr. Mitzi Morris. Not only do we cater to your comfort needs with a relaxing office environment, soothing amenities and caring staff, but we also offer a full range of sedation dentistry options.

Sedation dentistry does not mean you will be put to sleep. It doesn’t even have to mean that you will need a driver for your appointment. We offer both nitrous oxide for mild to moderate dental anxiety as well as IV sedation offered by a licensed IV sedation dentist. With nitrous oxide, you’ll simply wear a nosepiece and breathe in a colorless gas during your procedure. This allows you to remain fully relaxed yet able to communicate with Dr. Morris as well as drive yourself home after your visit. IV Sedation is reserved for those that have moderate to severe dental anxiety or patients who are nervous about a very lengthy dental treatment.

Don’t let dental anxiety keep you from giving your smile the attention it needs. Neglecting decay, infection or disease within your mouth can lead to serious consequences within your body health as well as threats to your quality of life. It’s never been easier to stay comfortable and relaxed at the dental office. Simply let us know if you’d like to have sedation dentistry at your upcoming appointment, and be sure to disclose any specific fears or aversions that you have surrounding dental care. We are confident we can make it a positive experience at the office of Dr. Mitzi Morris!

Posted on the behalf of Mitzi Morris, DMD, PC