Dr. Nammy discusses dental anxiety, what causes it, and ways that dental anxiety can be reduced.
A lot of my patients have anxiety about going to the dentist because in the past they might’ve had bad experiences. Also, we see it on TV all the time — it’s the classic comical show we’d see all the time — it’s like “going to the dentist – aah!” And then to be honest, drills, bills, it’s never any fun. So a lot of anxiety comes from what we hear, what we see or what we’ve experienced. And it’s really important for us to get present.
So in my practice, we have created an experience to be able to do that. From the time you walk in, there’s therapy, there’s music, there’s noise cancellation headphones, there’s teas. There’s just so many ways in order to make you feel comfortable so your fight or flight response isn’t active. We want you to go into a relaxed mode. Because there is nothing that’s going to kill you in the dental office, at least anything that I have. So what we want is our primal brain to just relax and take a deep breath and know that you’re completely safe and comfortable.
