Dental Phobia
Many among us have a strong phobia of our dentist. About 1 in 4 people, according to the NHS, fear a trip to their dentists. Nevertheless, there are ways to make your trips to dentists in Glasgow more pleasant, even if you are anxious.
Finding an understanding dentist who specialises in dental anxiety, like The Berkeley Clinic, can be a great first step. However, at Relate North East London we can help you with some new forms of therapy like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) that can help you to overcome the fear of your dentists in Glasgow.
What Is CBT Therapy?
CBT is a ‘talking therapy’ which looks at how we think and behave and then works out how to manage the problems that exist. It is one of the most common therapies for mental health problems like anxiety, but can truly help with other problems including dental phobia- even physical health problems!
In our CBT therapy sessions you will learn new coping mechanisms for dealing with your dental phobia, and over time you will hopefully see your fear of dentists in Glasgow diminish.
Other Techniques To Try
If you don’t feel like CBT would be for you, then you can also ask your dentist to consider sedation. Dentists in Glasgow can use inhalation sedation to help you feel relaxed and ensure you are not panicked or nervous throughout your appointment.
The sedation can come either in the form of gas and air or through intravenous sedation. Gas and air sedation is similar to what you may receive during childbirth but comes through a nosepiece instead of through a mask. Intravenous sedation will be an injection to your arm, which contrary to popular belief, will not send you to sleep. Instead, it will calm you so intensely that you won’t really remember the appointment, though you will be able to talk to the dentist throughout.
Talk To Your Dentists In Glasgow
If you think you may have a case of dental phobia then you can try talking to your dentists in Glasgow, or to their care team. Without having any treatment, you can get a consultation to talk through what will work for you. This will mentally prepare you for the visit to the dentist and ensure you know exactly what is going to happen in advance. A lot of the time, this added step of reassurance from your dentists in Glasgow can help massively.
Some dentists in Glasgow, like The Berkeley Clinic, are specialists in working with nervous or anxious patients. Having won awards on the topic, you should feel safer in their hands, and hopefully, this will help some way towards your dental phobia.
