Dental Phobia

these are aide memoire notes from various sources which will help me bring together useful information to help with dental care - there is different information from different fields, the most famous one probably being Elvis describing "hyper-arousal" in ALL SHOOK UP. More to come as this page completes.

Dental phobia can control your life ... If YOU choose to let it!!

My teeth got progressively worse. There were more cavities. Teeth started crumbling away and breaking off at gum level. Abscesses were regular occurrences and often lasted for several days swelling the side of my face. The constant pain was almost unbearable but still my fears prevented me from seeking help. I would take painkillers like they were sweets but still I could not go to the dentists because of my unconscious fears. I tried various ways to pull the offending teeth out to try to stop the pain - failing miserably and making the situation worse.

With a phobia the fear far outweighs the threat but the sufferer often has little control over their reactions. My rational thoughts told me that the pain, I currently felt, could not be anywhere near as bad as any pain I may experience having dental treatment. My unconscious mind did not agree ... the fear won. It has been said, "When it hurts enough people will go to the dentist." This certainly does not hold true if you are a dental phobic!!

Now, not only were my fears stopping me from going to the dentists I was also ashamed of the way my teeth looked. I thought that the dentist would never have seen teeth as bad as mine and I knew, from past experiences, they would never understand. Once again they would rebuff me and make me feel small and dirty for the way I had let my teeth deteriorate.

It is amazing how our minds work when we are limited by our own beliefs and lack of knowledge. For example, as several of my back teeth had broken at gum level, and the gums had swollen around them, I thought the only way to deal with the problem was to cut the gums open to get all the bits out. This did not help the situation at all and just served to re-enforce the fear which now controlled my life.

Eating started to get to be a problem as well. It is difficult to chew food when the main biting teeth are rotting away. I would tend to chew on one side of my mouth until that caused pain. Then I would use the other side. Eventually that too would start to hurt and the only options open to me were to nibble in the middle, or only eat soft food, until the pain went away.

I was always conscious about the state of my teeth. When speaking to people my hand would be strategically placed in front of my mouth to hide them. I also very rarely smiled, as this would reveal my teeth. So not only did I feel miserable I also looked it.

Frequently I would have nightmares about teeth and often woke with broken bits of teeth in my mouth.

The state of my teeth also prevented me from visiting a dentist especially if I thought there was the remotest chance he might want to look in my mouth.

All of these factors compounded my fears, and of course I was the only one that felt this way!! If you are unfortunate enough to suffer from dental phobia maybe you will know what I mean.

The situation was getting progressively worse. Not only was my physical health suffering. I had also lost my self-confidence and my self-esteem and had started to experience panic attacks. I was unable to see any way out and it was difficult to seek help because I was too ashamed of admitting to others how I felt. My life was so out of control and I felt isolated and alone.

Eventually I came to the "crossroads" in my life and realised something must be done. I could not continue to suffer in this way. About a year previous to this I had read an article in a local paper about a dentist who had dealt with people just like me and I decided to see if he could help me. Now, I thought was the time to regain control of my life. It was a difficult decision to make but, eventually, it turned out to be one of the best things I could have done. Beating "the fear" changed my life in ways I couldn't have ever imgined, in the depth of my own fears I wouldn't have been able to think about going to the dentist, yet alone enjoy my visits there.

What is Dental Phobia?:

Dental phobia is the serious, often paralyzing fear of seeking dental care. It has been reliably reported that 50% of the American population does not seek regular dental care. An estimated 9-15% of all Americans avoid much needed care due to anxiety and fear surrounding the dental experience. This translates to some 30 - 40 million people so afraid of dental treatment that they avoid it altogether,

In terms of your dental health and overall well-being, this can have serious ramifications. Besides chronically infected gums and teeth which
can affect your medical status, your ability to chew and digest can be seriously compromised. Without healthy gums and teeth, your speech can be affected as well. Your self confidence can be compromised if you are insecure about your breath and smile. This can lead to serious limitations in both your social and business environments.

Dental Anxiety Self-Test

Many people have a high level of anxiety and avoid visiting the dentist. This can cause future dental problems. Below are some questions that, if answered yes, may signify that you have some form of dental anxiety. It is important to note, however, that many new, wonderful products and procedures are available that can make the dental visit a pleasant experience.

Do you feel slight uneasiness and tension the evening prior to your dental visit, which makes you cancel your dental appointment?

While waiting in the reception area of the dental office, do you feel nervous about the visit?

Have you had a prior dental experience that was unpleasant?

While in the dental chair, do you feel uneasy and anxious?

Does the thought of having a dental injection make you feel physically ill and tense?

Does seeing the dentist or dental hygienist's instruments make you anxious?

Do you feel embarrassed that the dentist will say you have the worst mouth they have ever seen?

Do objects placed in your mouth during the dental visit make you panic and feel like you cannot breath correctly?

Do you feel that your dentist is unsympathetic only with you?

Techniques & Treatments to Cope with Anxiety
Some people can learn to handle anxiety by using basic techniques.

Basic Techniques:

The following techniques prove useful for many situations related to anxiety, such as stress and anger. Since self-esteem affects and is affected by everything we do, these techniques also help to improve positive self-esteem.

Act "As If":

Acting "as if" we are not nervous may sound like some sort of strange technique. Yet, this technique has been well-grounded in psychological theory. Our bodies-minds are interconnected and have the ability to help (or hinder) each other. If we stand tall, walk confidently, speak with assurance, these body movements can help to alter the mind. Remember the 1950's movie "The King and I" about Anna and the King of Siam? In one scene, Anna is afraid when her ship arrives in Siam and in response, stands up tall, holds her head high, and begins to whistle the song, "Whenever I feel afraid I hold my head erect and whistle a happy tune and no one ever knows I'm afraid..." In this scene, we get an idea of "acting-as-if" behavior.

Breathing:

Deep breathing helps the body to calm itself down. One simple exercise is to take three deep breaths in through the nose, hold each for a moment, and then exhale slowly through the mouth. When we take in these deep breaths, we need to try to "stretch" the breathing. That is, when we think we have taken in all the air we can, we need to try to take in a little more. Chances are, we can. We do the same when exhaling. When we think we have exhaled all the air from our lungs, we need to try to exhale a little more. When we are anxious, we tend to exhale the air sharply, rather than slowly. This helps us to release tension.

Exercise:

Moderate exercise helps us calm our anxiety or relieve stress. All of us know that exercise helps the brain to release much needed serotonin which is the brain's natural opiate. However, over doing exercising can stress our bodies and damage body parts over time.

Walking remains one of the safest and most effective and inexpensive ways to exercise. We do not need special equipment or need to pay dues to a health club, or to buy certain clothes other than decent walking shoes. Dancing is another method we can use. Dancing around the house or yard releases tension. If we have access to a pool, swimming is a great way to relieve stress and anxiety because it exercises all the body muscle groups.

Meditation:

Meditation is an age-old method of helping people to find inner peace and harmony. Meditation may be associated with prayer, or simply focusing on an object or thought.

Music:

Remember the old saying, "music soothes the savage beast" or the phrase "mood music"? When we are stressed, anxious, even angry, music can help to calm the "beast" in us. Music written in 4/4 time with 16 beats to the measure is rhythmic, hypnotic, and can help us relax. Examples of such music is Baroque or Gregorian chant.

Nutrition:

What we eat affects us in our brains as well as our bodies. Too much fat makes us fat. There are some food groups that energize us such as fruits and vegetable, and other foods that help relax us such as complex carbohydrates. Processed sugar and alcohol may help us feel good for the moment but can interfere with our mood and increase tension, stress, anxiety, and anger. The "quick picker-uppers" tend to follow the principle: what goes up, comes down. Quickly.

Positive support systems:

People affect our lives either positively or negatively. This brings to mind the Fifth Commandment. Our spirits can be killed by being around negative persons. Sometimes we need to do "housecleaning" and eliminate those who drag us down. Many times this is not so easy to do because the persons involved are spouses, or bosses. When this is the case, it becomes more necessary than ever to seek out others who are positive-minded and who can help offset the emotional distress created by being around unsupportive people. We need to understand that being around negative people, regardless of the reason, limits growth and well-being.

Relaxation:

All of us need to take time to relax. What is relaxation for one person may be nerve-wracking for another. Some people relax by taking a long bath; others relax by taking a hike. Relaxation is a personal choice. The point is, all of us need to take a few moments. Women, especially, have trouble with this principle. The old adage, "you can't sit down till the work is done" runs deeply in women's veins, regardless of age or culture. We must retrain ourselves into allowing ourselves to take time for ourselves. This often means we need to ask for help. Asking for help may involve assertiveness techniques, or maybe all we have to do is ask. Someone once said, the time to relax is when you have the least time for it.

Self-esteem development:

Since self-esteem affects and is affected by everything we do, working to improve self-esteem is another way to improve ourselves. Many self-help books describe ways to increase self-esteem, and reading them in combination with taking some active means to improve self-esteem, such as attending workshops focusing on this topic, can help to raise self-esteem.

Self-hypnosis:

All our life events and messages are stored in our unconscious minds. Typically there is not a good communication between our conscious and unconscious minds. This may produce negative self talk and lack of harmony where we become like a charioteer with two unwieldy steeds, each going in their own direction. Hypnosis allows communication between the conscious and unconscious thus aligns our minds like an orchestra in tune so we can lessen our anxiety.

Self-talk:

Remember the old sing-song rhythm from childhood: "sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me"? The message in the rhythm is incorrect. Calling ourselves names has a definite negative impact on us. We don't like it when someone calls our children names, and yet we think nothing of doing the same to ourselves. There is another quote that states a reality about thinking that says "the mind doesn't know the difference between what's real and what's vividly and repeatedly imagined." When we call ourselves names, the mind takes in those negative words as truth and reacts accordingly. We need not only to retrain ourselves from calling ourselves names, but also to refer to ourselves in positive ways.

Smile:

A professor once said that cursory research suggested a relationship between smiling diminishing anxiety. Smiling may be connected to "acting-as-if" behavior. We can speculate that when we smile, we might be "faking" our brain into getting the message that everything is okay. Since our thoughts-emotions-behaviors are interconnected, when we change one, we alter the others as well: a smile lifts emotions, and thoughts start to shift. Perhaps a smile actually triggers the brain's neuro nets in some way, or since a smile is a form of facial exercise, perhaps it helps needed brain chemicals to fire. Another speculation might be based on the fact that we cannot hold two different mood states at the exact same time. We might have different mood states close to one other, such as people report when they say they feel like they are on a roller coaster ride of emotions, but those emotions do not occur simultaneously.

Visualization:

The concept of visualization has been around for ages, and yet it sounds so easy, that many of us dismiss it as a viable technique. The basic idea of visualization simply is to picture ourselves as we want to be, and imagine that picture as vividly and completely as possible. Olympic athletes regularly use this technique to improve their performance.

Palming
Background and rationale
"Palming" was originally a yoga technique. Palming works by calming the visual system. Our eyes see by receiving light signals. If there were no light entering the eyes, one should expect to see nothing. Sometimes, there appears swirling patches of colours, creating pictures where there should be none. This is a symptom of the eyestrain causing defective vision. Many people have reported reducing eyestrain can have a claming effect on anxiety and tension, so its a useful technique to use in the dental setting.

How to do
Place your palms over your closed eyes, letting the fingers cross over at the forehead. Slightly cup your palms such that you are not pressingon the eyeballs. Feel the warmth of the hands radiate and diffuse gently into your eyeballs. Think of the most peaceful scene that you can imagine. Relax...

A few things to note
Do not press against the eyeballs with your palms. This will put pressure on the blood vessels in the eyeballs and reduce circulation of blood and nutrients.
Make sure that as much light as possible is blocked out by the palms. The exact position of the palms is up to the individual. Crossing the fingers at the forehead usually helps.
Put yourself in a comfortable and proper posture e.g. don't slouch
Remember to keep your eyes closed, behind the palms.
And keep your hands clean, otherwise there will be the attack of the pimples!
The most important thing is to relax. Of course, one can't try to relax. The harder you try, the more tense you become. The trick is to imagine pleasant scenery such as floating clouds in a blue sky, a peaceful sunrise at the top of the mountains.

Advantages of palming
Physical and mental relaxation
Relief of eye strain
Can be used in conjunction with imagery
Physical and mental relaxation
At the beginning, you may see swirling colours or grey patches. As you relax, you will notice the visual field becoming blacker and blacker. This is a sign that both your mind and body have relaxed, and your visual system is working harmoniously. Once you are able to achieve perfect blackness, clarity returns.

Promote visual imagery
While you are palming, you can visualise anything, as long as it doesn't cause stress. For example, you can visualise your plans for the today when you are lying in bed. Make the images as vivid and real as possible. Feel yourself getting drawn into the images that you conjure up in your mind.