What is Dental Anxiety..?

YES!! it does exist and I'm one of these people...! here's a deeper side of DENTAL PHOBIA

Dental fear or phobia refers to the fear of dentistry or dentist and of receiving dental care. A pathological form of this fear is variously called as dental phobia, odontophobia, dentophobia, dentist phobia, or dental anxiety.
Causes of Dental Anxiety and PhobiaPeople develop dental anxieties and phobias for many different reasons.
Pain — The fear of pain is most common in adults 24 years and older. This may be because their early dental visits happened before many of the advances in pain free dental procedures.
Embarrassment — The mouth is an intimate part of the body. People may feel ashamed or embarrassed to have a stranger looking inside. During a treatment, the hygienist's or dentist's face may be just a few inches away. This can make people anxious and uncomfortable.
Negative past experiences — Anyone who has had pain or discomfort during previous dental procedures is likely to be more anxious the next time around.
Symptoms Some of the signs of dental phobia includes:

1. You feel tense or have trouble sleeping the night before a dental visit.
2. You get increasingly nervous while you are in the waiting room.
3. You feel like crying when you think of going to the dentist. The sight of dental instruments or of white coated personnel in the dental clinic — increases your anxiety.

The thought of a dental visit makes you feel physically ill.

You panic or have trouble breathing when objects are placed in your mouth during a dental appointment.

If this describes you, then you need to tell your dentist about your feelings, concerns and fears. Your dentist will help you overcome these feelings by changing the way you are treated.

Treatment
Treatments for dental fear often include a combination of behavioral and pharmacological techniques. Behavioral strategies used by dentists include positive reinforcement (e.g. praising the patient), the use of non-threatening language and tell-show-do techniques. The tell-show-do technique was originally developed for use in pediatric dentistry, but can also be used with nervous adult patients. The technique involves verbal explanations of procedures in easy to understand language, followed by demonstrations of the sights, sounds, smells, and tactile aspects of the procedure in a non-threatening way, followed by the actual procedure.
Pharmacological techniques to manage dental fear range from mild sedation to general anesthesia and are often used by dentists in combination with behavioral techniques. One common anxiety-reducing medication used in dentistry is nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas), which is inhaled through a mask worn on the nose and causes feelings of relaxation and dissociation.

Source: Photo & Article
http://bestdentalguide.blogspot.com/2011/01/dental-phobia-fear-of-dentist.html

Finally Completed and not coming back.....

I remember blogging about overcoming my fear of the dentist few months ago, and I actually gain that confidence to step into any dental clinic in whatever service my dentist prescribe,

But recently, I accidentally picked up a DENTAL PROMO flyer from VIRTUS SPECIALIZED DENTAL CENTER, its 45KD bleaching, so when I reached the office I immediately call the clinic to verify the promo and they confirmed that Cleaning + Bleaching = 45KD so immediately I requested for an appointment in the evening, was surprise to know that the clinic is quite near to my apartment which also an advantage

6pm, I was at clinic the staff are friendly, the clinic is tidy and well equipped with all the latest dental equipment, I was indeed pleased with their xray machine, it’s like UFO and it doesn’t require to put anything inside my mouth, just a proper gesture and viola! Ur done!!!!

The next day I was immediately scheduled for scaling and bleaching the day after, well, scaling is tolerable but bleaching is worst!! I only finish my first session coz It’s freaking painful, the Doctor said that they’re people who can finish the full session without pain but in my case my teeth was too sensitive to tolerate the process, but i'm happy with the 3 shades whiter than the usual, but they charged me KD25 Cleaning + KD45 Bleaching which is not what the customer service confirmed to me over the phone

but then again, I’m happy with the result and I swear never to do the bleaching again…!

Weeks after, I noticed that my temporary crown started to have discoloration, I dropped by the clinic again for consultation and my dentist suggested to have a crown but root canal should done first to prevent future infection (cost KD 80 root canal + 20KD filing + 63KD crown), for several days been in & out of the clinic to finish my root canals, and early today I finally completed my painful last session of root canal, it's traumatic!!!
SADLY, my Dental anxiety/phobia is back, , it’s a nightmare and I don’t ever want to sit on dental chair again….! I can’t control my tears while writing this, remembering the moment I was sitting on the dental chair waiting to die, seeing my dentist bit annoyed/ irritated with my reactions on every pain , and going out to the cashier with the bills I cannot imagine!!!

I TRULLY UNDERSTAND THE DENTIST FOR FEELING SO IRRITATED , I SHIVER, I WAS SHAKING & CRYING the whole time- all dentist will agree with me that the kind of patient I am is just pain to their ass!!! LIKE A CHILD,

AND FOR ME who is on the process of fully recovering from dental anxiety,all I have to do is pray…! Longing for the moment to end, get myself out of the place and cry in my dark room for an hour or two or till I felt asleep without the reflection of myself sitting on the dental chair with all the sounds I hear and the pain I bare deep within over and over!!! coz I always been misunderstood and I'm used to it!!.....