-• NEWS                       • SUBMIT NEWS
-• COUPONS
-• CLASSIFIEDS • SUBMIT CLASSIFIED
-• YELLOW PAGES
-• OPINION               • SUBMIT OPINION
-• ANNOUNCEMENTS         • SUBMIT
-• SPORTS                  ANNOUNCEMENT
-• ARTS
-• BUSINESS
-• POLITICS
-• EDUCATION
-• HEALTH
-• EVENTS                   • SUBMIT EVENT
-• PHOTOS               • SUBMIT PHOTOS
-• ARCHIVES
-• ADVERTISING
-• WIN-TV

Dental Anxiety
BY GREGORY A. FARBER, D.M.D.
Dental anxiety, or an overwhelming, serious fear of dental treatment, prevents tens of millions of Americans from optimizing and maintaining good oral health.  People who suffer from dental anxiety often fail to keep routine care appointments; and when they do go, a once small preventable problem has turned into something else. 

Typically, dental anxiety is the result of a bad experience as a child.  One early memory can create a ‘cycle of avoidance’ where a patient would only seek treatment when pain arises, thereby associating every dental visit with discomfort.  Anecdotes and second-hand stories from other fearful patients perpetuate these fears and a full-blown dental phobic patient is born.  I see this scenario all too often.

Adults who have avoided dental treatment become embarrassed over their present condition as the thought of reliving the sights and sounds of dental visits paralyzes them.
Thankfully, times have changed, and reducing dental anxiety is now possible. 

Preventing anxiety, of course, is best achieved by having positive experiences in childhood, so that overwhelming and unnecessary fears never materialize. 
Anxious adults may be helped though by first realizing their fears can be overcome by communicating with the dentist; typically it’s the ‘fear of the unknown’ about a specific procedure.  I often encourage patients to control the speed of the treatment by communicating with hand signals.

Patients also have success by using relaxation skills, desensitizing techniques and gradual exposure to non-threatening dental environments.  I’ve found over the years that simply making appointments early in the morning reduces the stress build up a late day appointment can create.

Medications, including a small pill similar to Valium, the use of nitrous oxide (typically called ‘laughing gas’) and even intravenously delivered sedatives are safe alternatives when properly administered for highly anxious patients needing extensive care.  These medications have really begun to revolutionize dental care for anxious patients.

Technology also plays a role here.  Advancements in single visit root canal therapy, topical numbing gels as well as quicker onset/shorter duration anesthetics and in-office entertainment systems help reduce, or even eliminate the fear preventing many patients from having the comfortable dental care they need, and deserve.

So what are you waiting for?

Born and raised in Connecticut, Dr. Farber earned his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from UCONN and has been practicing in the Hartford and Windsor areas for almost 15 years. 

His practice, Day Hill Dental, is located at 1060 Day Hill Road in Windsor. He utilizes the latest technologies, including air abrasion and Invisalign, to provide the highest quality of comfortable care to patients young and old. After completing an advanced training Periodontics fellowship at UCONN, Dr. Farber now places and restores implants for patients’ convenience.  He resides in West Hartford with his wife and two children.