The Adverse Effects of Fear On Dental Clinic Sessions

Fear of the dentist, or fear of tooth pain during a clinical session, is something that can be termed as a purely psychological tendency that a lot of people have. The truth is, dental extraction or surgery rarely causes a lot of pain, but a lot of people are afraid of it because in their minds they have negative images of doctors inserting needles in patient's mouths, and so on and so forth.

The interesting thing is that the more a person reinforces his fear of the dentist, the more likely is he to experience actual pain and complication during a dental procedure. The reason for this is that fear triggers a variety of bodily functions that impede the smooth process of oral health care.

Here are some of the negative physiological effects of fear on any dental session:

1. Fear increases the heartbeat and circulation speed of the blood. This could spell trouble because this could lead to profuse bleeding in affected tooth areas, especially during a tooth pulling session. Thus, patients are advised to relax and be calm to avoid any profuse bleeding during the procedure.

2.  Fear causes the muscles to contract and the nerves to "hide" from the surface. Sometimes, it is hard to inject a person with intravenous sedation drugs when he is extremely nervous because this causes the nerves to budge a lot. The muscles also tend to be harder and "uncooperative" when a patient is in a state of fear. In a lot of dental sedation Sydney sessions, patients are encouraged to be totally relaxed before any procedure is done.

3. Fear makes the pain worse. When a person is nervous, he deems the slightest sensation can be "psychologically painful"/ When an individual expects the worst is going to happen, he will tend to overreact with his feelings and think himself into believing that everything is more painful that it really is.

More often than not, our enemy is not the dentist, but ourselves. Being too afraid can cause a lot of bad things to happen. Fear, when translated into reality, turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy that haunts an individual during a session with a dentist. The only solution to this is constant reassurance, and a more realistic look at circumstances.

NOTE: For sleep dentistry Sydney sessions, try to consult with Dr. Michael Walker of MPW Dentistry.