While there are many reasons for this, the biggest challenge for most patients is – FEAR. Unfortunately for some, fear of dental treatment can be a barrier to getting them to their best oral health state.  Healthy gums and teeth, a bright natural looking smile and overall better confidence.

The fear can lead to a bad cycle.

The very reason many people have disease is because of either avoiding or delaying treatment, which can cause problems to get worse and costs to rise. Many wait until the pain or infection are so bad that avoidance is no longer an option. They chew on the other side of their mouth. They wake up at 3am to take pain medications.  When patients finally visit a dentist, they may find themselves having to lose teeth or receive remedial dentistry just to hold them over until the next problem arises.

The source of the problem is never found or addressed. It becomes a matter of time until the pain or symptoms resurface.

Traditionally, dentistry is one of the only surgeries where most people are mostly expected to be fully aware during a given procedure.  For some, this is not a problem. Our office, for example, has noise cancellation headphones for music or movie goggles that provide a nice escape from the procedure itself. However for those with high anxiety or fear, this doesn’t always work. In fact, many high fear patients often choose not to have any other distraction. As a result, their focus often leads to the expectation of pain.

At D2O Dental, we believe that patients must and should have options to address these real concerns. As of 2014, we are excited to offer our patient full dental anesthesia delivered by a dental anesthesiologist. Dentistry while you sleep if you will. This option has been a tremendous benefit for people who have battled fear and dental disease for a majority of their life to become perfectly healthy again.

It is life changing.

For those who don’t want to be completely sleep, but don’t want to remember the procedure either, I am still dental board certified to perform oral conscious sedation, which has been great for many of our patients as well.

If you or someone you know has dental anxiety concerns that are preventing them from becoming healthy, please pass this information along or contact us for more information. There are options available and we’re here to help you find what works best for you.

Edward T. Wiggins II DDS,
Improving dental wellness since 2002.