Dental sedation in Bolton and other options for nervous patients
Dentophobia – a fear of dentists and dental work – is so common that it is estimated that 12% of people suffer from extreme dental anxiety, while the British Dental Association says that approximately 25% of the UK population suffer from some sort of anxiety before visiting the dentist.
If you are someone with dentophobia, we understand that maintaining your oral health and receiving the right treatment at the right time may be a challenge. In extreme cases, we have encountered individuals who have avoided dental treatment for years, usually until a dental emergency and significant pain has forced them to seek help. Please don’t be one of these people and suffer in silence until your suffering becomes too much.
At Harwood Dental Care, Bolton, we are passionate about supporting nervous patients as we believe that no-one’s dental health or overall wellbeing should suffer because of dentophobia.
Supporting nervous patients
Dr Dipesh Patel is a Dental Phobia Certified Dentist, while both Dipesh and his wife, Vilas, have achieved additional qualifications in dental sedation. Across the practice, our wider team is sensitive to dental phobias and anxiety and will do everything possible to support your visits and treatment.
As a nervous patient, you may not be aware of the different options that are open to you to ease your anxiety around visiting the dentist or having dental treatment. Dental sedation, although a popular choice, is just one option. Those that have tired dental sedation say that they seem slightly awake at moments of the treatment but feel completely at ease from start to finish. You may also want to talk to us about hypnotherapy, distraction techniques, and support from your dentist.
Building a trusting dentist-patient relationship
Many people find that it helps enormously to get to know their dentist in advance and build up trust in their approach, personality and abilities. You might also want an early morning appointment so that you get your visit out of the way instead of letting your anxiety build throughout the day. We are happy to accommodate this.
You are very welcome to bring a friend or family member with you to any appointments. Some of our patients find that chatting to a friend or the dentist about something completed unrelated to dentistry can be a good form of distraction.
As a private dental practice, we are able to offer longer appointment times than those typically available on the NHS. This means that you will have the opportunity to talk about your thoughts, feelings and fears around your dental treatment so that we can address your concerns and answer your questions. It’s often the case that knowledge is power for patients. If you need several appointments to build up to your treatment, that’s can be arranged.
We may also agree a stop signal with you. This will help you to feel that you are completely in control and can stop your treatment at any time.
Dental sedation in Bolton
After talking to us, you may decide that dental sedation is the right option for you. It will allow you to have dental treatment while feeling completely relaxed, and may even speed up your perception of time so your treatment feels like it’s over in a matter of minutes.
Intravenous dental sedation is a safe and reliable method of controlled dental anxiety and phobia, and we see patients from Greater Manchester, Bolton and beyond thanks to our expertise in this area.
If you have any dental anxiety or even a dental phobia and would like to know more about how we can help you manage or even overcome these feelings, you are very welcome to join us for a free initial consultation at our relaxing and friendly dental practice. We can also discuss dental sedation in more detail.
Please call us on 01204 304568, email us at info@harwooddentalcare.co.uk or book an appointment online.
You can also find out more about the common worries of a nervous dental patient in one of our other blogs.
