Fear from dental interventions
Since the beginning of history fear from dental interventions has caused a significant problem for those who perform the treatment of teeth and even more so for those who undergo the treatments. It is the same today, despite dental interventions, and within that, anaesthetic procedures, having developed a lot in the last few decades. As dental fear affects a large part of the society, dental professionals have had to find a solution to this problem.
Types of dental fear:
Dental fear is a reaction, triggered by the dental treatment for patients. Its extent may vary on a wide scale.
Mild dental fear:
This does not cause any significant change in the patient’s behaviour from the dental intervention point of view. It is a normal human reaction.
Increased dental fear
h3>Das ist eine dem Patienten ernsthaftes Leiden zufügende Reaktion, die gewöhnlich mit einer Verhaltensänderung vor dem zahnmedizinischen Eingriff verbunden ist. Das kommt gewöhnlich während der Behandlung zum Vorschein – z.B. Bitte um Zeit, Verschiebungen, Modifizierung des Termins – aber der Patient, auch wenn nur selten, besucht die Zahnarztpraxis.
Phobie gegenüber Zahnbehandlung
A reaction which causes serious suffering for the patient and is usually accompanied by a change in their behaviour which affects the dental intervention. It occurs mostly during the treatment, e.g. requesting time, delaying, changing appointments. Even if only rarely, but the patient does actually attend the dental treatments.
Dental phobia
When a strong fear reaction is triggered in the patients with regard to the dental interventions and treatments. In most cases the patients avoid dental treatments, or when it comes to a treatment they feel strong suffering. In the case of such patients there is a risk of irreversible dental damage.
Main causes of dental fear:
Scientific research showed that the fears of the concerned patients mostly originate from bad childhood memories. The cramped tension, the fear of unavoidable pain, the assistant’s head, tightly held down, may imprint in the memory easily and connect with the feeling of defencelessness.
Consequences of dental fear
The unresolved fears of the concerned individuals often appear as nightmares, sweating, gloominess or they are a lot more irritable in everyday situations. Almost all feel ashamed, both because of their un-aesthetic teeth and their fear from the dental treatments.
How can we help?
Oral sedation: anti-anxiety pills to reduce stress in case of mild dental fear. Intravenous sedation: in case of dental phobia and increased dental fear Procedure: Prior to the intervention, the anaesthetist assesses the questionnaire completed by you and considers your health condition. If the doctor finds it suitable, he/she will recommend the treatment, so you have nothing to fear. The anaesthetist will dose the sedative painkiller intravenously through a cannula, which enables accurate dose setting. Its biggest advantage during treatment is its rapid effect, and the sedative empties from your body soon after the treatment. During conscious sedation the patient is in deep relaxation. During sedation we place a thin cannula into the vein on the arm or the back of the hand. Patients are able to understand and execute verbal instructions but they are not disturbed by the unpleasant interventions at all.
PPractical advantages of intravenous conscious sedation
– During sedation you are conscious, thus you cooperate with the dentist during treatment, you are able to communicate, understand and execute the dentist’s instructions.
– It reduces the retching and vomiting stimulus.
– You will not remember the treatment because the sedation results in deep relaxation and the sedative will cause partial or full memory loss for the time of the treatment. As a consequence the treatment time flies by; it might even seem that you slept through the whole thing.
– What do you have to do when applying conscious sedation?
– Although the risk of sedation is very low, we will keep you under observation for 30 minutes upon completing the treatment and allow you to go home only with a companion.
– After treatment you are not allowed to drive or consume alcohol on the same day.