How to Stop Being Afraid of the Dentist

Alfred Hitchcock once said, "The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them." Hitchcock must not have feared the dentist because he didn't direct any dental horror flicks. While it's not easy to stop being afraid of the dentist, it's not impossible. The most important thing you can do is find a competent dentist who truly cares about his or her patients.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Research for a dentist who can meet your needs. Browse the yellow pages, ask other people about their dentists and call a dental referral line. You goal is to find a dentist who is not only professionally skilled, but is caring, patient and never allows you to feel pain. If the first one you try doesn't meet your criteria, keep searching until you find one who does.
2. Learn to breathe offensively, not defensively. A lot of problems faced by dental patients are caused by hyperventilating or breath holding, both defensive styles of breathing that make the patients even more tense. Instead, practice offensive breathing by fixating on a spot on the ceiling, the edge of the light, the dentist's eyes, something that will enable you to focus and breathe evenly and slowly, through both your mouth and nose. This kind of breathing will help you feel more in control.
3. Distract yourself from aspects of the experience that make you anxious. If the sound of the drill drives you up the wall, ask if you can wear headphones and listen to some music. If you don't like the needle or the pressure from the drill, ask the dentist or the assistant to engage you in conversation to help divert your attention.
4. Make sure you instruct the dentist to numb you and keep you numb. If you know intellectually you should feel no pain, you should feel more in control. If you start to feel any pain at all, speak up immediately.
5. Arrange with the dentist and assistant beforehand a "stop signal." For example, if you need the dentist to stop drilling and get out of your mouth for a moment, for whatever reason, all of you could agree you will raise your left hand or flutter a couple of fingers. Having the signal acknowledged, not ignored, will help you feel more in control.
6. Scrap plans to get drugged up before appointments. While dentists can and do prescribe mild anti-anxiety medication prior to procedures, drugs are never the long term solution, they add to the feeling of lack of control and could become habit forming. If you'd like something natural to calm you a bit, try a commercial rescue remedy.
7. Pop a couple of lemon slices into a plastic baggie and take it along to your next appointment. Once you're in the chair, open the bag, take a deep breath of the lemon and voila! The fresh fragrance of lemon, combined with the commercial rescue remedy mentioned, will help you feel more relaxed and in control and the visit should go smoother.

Tips & Warnings

• After two or three visits using these suggestions and having more relaxed experiences in a dental office, you may one day be able to say that you have stopped being afraid of the dentist.
• Check with your doctor before ingesting anything to help calm you.
• If you've ever been the victim of abuse or physical trauma, a few sessions with a counselor could help you better cope with situations where you have little control, especially those where you're laid back and restrained with items in your mouth, like in a dental office.