07 Jun Why nervous dental patients have nothing to fear at our North London practice

Nervous dental patients have nothing to fear at North London practice Dental Beauty Islington. Our principal dentist, Dr Ricky Adams, is Dental Phobia certified, and the whole team is both experienced in and committed to helping nervous patients to get treatment.

You might feel alone if you are a nervous dental patient, but in fact approximately one in ten adults in the UK is so scared of the dentist that they simply do not go. A survey by the Oral Health Foundation, as part of National Smile Month 2016, found that approximately 2% of the UK population have never been to a dentist, whilst 27% only go when they have a problem.

Women are slightly more likely to suffer from this type of anxiety than men, and the top two fears are having a tooth drilled (30%) and having a local anaesthetic injection (28%). At our North London clinic we understand that there are multiple reasons that cause people to become nervous dental patients as well as these triggers; a bad childhood experience, fear of judgement over poor oral health, and fear of being out of control of the situation are just some of them.

Whatever the reason behind your fear – even if you can’t identify a specific trigger – at our North London clinic we can help.

There are several options for nervous dental patients at our North London practice, and the team will take the time to find the perfect one for you. We’ll start with an informal chat to find out any specific triggers you may have, and any thoughts you may have about what could help.

Hypnotherapy offers relief to a lot of nervous dental patients, and furnishes them with self-management techniques for the future. Ensuring you know the signals to give your dentist if you want to pause treatment can also help if you fear not being in control – we don’t mind taking a break!

Conscious sedation is a popular option for nervous dental patients. Whilst you won’t be asleep as you would with general anaesthetic, so able to cooperate with instructions, you will be very relaxed and unaware of treatment.