The Negative Experience Of Dental Anxiety

Dentist offices scare Melissa.

She cannot stand the anticipation of what will hurt next. She gets anxious having someone so deep within her personal space, and she absolutely hates having to sit still while someone is free to do as they please with the sensitive landscape of her mouth. Above all, since her first visit to the dentist, Melissa has hated the fact that she must go to there to maintain her health.

Like millions of people, Melissa suffers from dental anxiety. As a result, all of their visits to the dentist are tainted by her anticipations of a negative experience with their visit. When patients are overwhelmed by anxiety about their visit, it becomes more difficult for dentists and dental hygienists to do their job. It also makes

I walked into the office that Wednesday for my afternoon appointment, and the news was broken to me as I was introduced to my new dentist. He was a relatively new dentist who had just transferred from his first position in another state. When I went into the chair he spoke very little, and did little to ease my anxiety. The final straw came when I was lying back in the chair, and without a word, he began to drill my teeth, prepping them for cavity filling. I clutched the armrests as pain shot through my jaw and through my face

The hygienists and the dentists work well within their patient’s intimate space. Their work often causes pain, they lean in close to patients while they work, the patients are required to lay still in their chairs while they do whatever they feel needs to be done. Patients are likely to feel anxious about the pain, uncomfortable with having someone they do not know within their personal space, or vulnerable because of the position they are in. These feelings, coupled with any forms of dental anxiety or dental phobia, greatly increase the emotional impact on the patient. As a result, they make each visit one that can become a long-lasting memory, whether positive or