Flourish Health & Wellbeing eMag - Latest Edition - Flipbook - Page 11
If the thought of
walking into a
dental practice
terrifies you, you’re
not alone. A recent
survey of 25,000
people by the
Australian Dental
Association found
that of the people
who’d delayed
dental treatment in
the last 12 months,
6% admitted fear
of the dentist as
the cause.
However the
outcome for people
plagued with
anxiety is poor oral
health - they end
up only walking
through the practice
door when they
have severe pain
or a serious issue,
making their dental
fears even worse.
What’s dental anxiety?
Dental anxiety refers to an
emo琀椀onal or physical state
of elevated fear of dental
procedures. It can stem from
previous trauma琀椀c dental
experiences either as a child
or an adult, a needle phobia
or an aversion or sensi琀椀vity
to pain. Then there are those
su昀昀ering from poor oral health
who only see the den琀椀st when
there’s a severe toothache.
Dr Kaejenn Tchia, a den琀椀st in
Darwin and President of the
ADA in the Northern Territory,
said: “Since gradua琀椀ng dental
school, I’ve treated and
managed a number of dentally
anxious pa琀椀ents and over
琀椀me have learnt many the
following tools and strategies
to help the pa琀椀ent manage
their anxiety.
“It’s helpful to know that
den琀椀sts o昀琀en have numerous
tools and strategies to support
anxious, nervous or terri昀椀ed
pa琀椀ents to help them access
dental care by crea琀椀ng a safe,
suppor琀椀ve environment so
the best outcomes can be
achieved for not only the
pa琀椀ent’s dental health but also
their overall wellbeing. This
approach also goes a long way
to ensuring they will come
back for future visits.”
