Have you ever heard of [Defender] dentist phobia behavior | oral | phobia
Are you afraid of seeing your teeth? Do you know, this could be a dental phobia! Dental phobia refers to the abnormal psychological, physiological, and behavioral states of patients during dental visits, mainly manifested as tension, anxiety, inability to control emotions and behavior, accelerated heartbeat, sweating, abnormal blood pressure, pale complexion, and even avoidance behavior. It not only increases the difficulty of treatment operations for dentists, but also causes adverse consequences such as accidental ingestion of instruments, accidental injury to the tongue, lip and cheek mucosa, and facial skin.
According to incomplete statistics, 90% of people suffer from dental phobia. The sound made by machines while looking at teeth and the smell of unique disinfectants in dentistry are unavoidable sources of fear. If there have been stressful and painful events, such as unpleasant experiences in dentistry during childhood, such as toothache, choking on water, failed tooth extraction surgery, etc., their psychological shadows are often difficult to eliminate. There are also some people who often receive exaggerated and inaccurate descriptions of dentistry from family, friends, and social media, which can easily lead to psychological fear due to negative publicity.
Visiting a dentist is indeed a stressful thing, from the moment we realize that our appointment for tooth extraction, filling, or surgery is gradually approaching, to when you sit in the dentist's chair preparing for local anesthesia, and when the dentist holds instruments that produce high-frequency sounds, all of these constantly make you feel scared and fearful both physically and mentally. Due to dental phobia, even if the teeth are very painful, they are unwilling to go to the dentist, resulting in a delay in the condition, missing the best treatment opportunity, and small problems being dragged into big problems!
Big friends are like this, let alone children! For children, sometimes this sense of insecurity comes from their own fear of parents looking at their teeth. Therefore, when a child looks at their teeth, the blind comfort of parents, such as trembling voices and evasive eyes, telling the child "you must not be afraid" or casually ensuring that "looking at your teeth does not hurt at all", sometimes has the opposite effect and exacerbates the child's "dentist phobia". Some parents often use "threats" to make their children obedient, such as "if you don't behave well, the doctor will give you injections", "if you steal snacks again, the dentist will pull out all your teeth", etc. These can mislead children's views on dentists. So what can we do to make friends big and small no longer afraid of seeing their teeth? How to teach parents to scientifically guide their children and treat dental care correctly is a very important issue that needs to be paid attention to.
Firstly, it is necessary to achieve early examination, early detection, early treatment, and early prevention. Both adults and children should have regular oral examinations. Early dental filling and routine teeth cleaning. Children can receive timely and painless treatments such as pit and fissure sealing, regular fluoride application, and early intervention for bad habits to minimize exposure to problems. In addition, during the appropriate age, parents can gradually guide their children to read picture books such as "I'm Not Afraid of Going to the Dentist," "The Battle of Dental Bacteria," and "The Big Move of Toothworms." They know from a young age that going to the dentist is not something to be afraid of, it's just like checking weight and height. Parents should set an example, deal with dental problems as soon as possible, and give their children the opportunity to educate them about the importance of protecting their teeth from a young age.
It is normal to see a dentist when teeth have problems. If you feel obvious discomfort such as tooth pain, gum swelling, etc., please muster up the courage and face it bravely! With the advancement of medicine, the medical philosophy of dentists is also minimally invasive and painless, and there will be different methods to help alleviate the discomfort that treatment may bring.
During the examination process, in addition to intraoral examination, oral CBCT examination is completely painless. Its high-precision, high-resolution, and multi-dimensional positioning function can help doctors accurately and quickly identify the problem and provide targeted treatment.
During the treatment process, in order to alleviate the tension of dental examination, doctors often play some light music in the consultation room, and even allow patients of different sizes to play songs on demand. Listen to your favorite songs.
In terms of treating pain, currently most cases only require treatment under local anesthesia. If there is excessive anxiety and tension, sedatives can be given appropriately. For example, friends of all sizes can take painkillers such as Sanlitong and ibuprofen before dental examination to reduce pain, cooperate more relaxed with the entire treatment process, and shorten the treatment time; In rare cases, such as young babies who are unable to cooperate with long-term treatment, oral treatment can be given with laughing gas sedation or even general anesthesia. In such cases, it is necessary to go to a dental specialist hospital for treatment.
After treatment, you can also follow the doctor's advice to take some anti-inflammatory, sedative, pain relieving, and hemostatic drugs to alleviate the postoperative pain that may be caused by certain treatments. For example, after undergoing tooth extraction and dental implantation, medication can greatly alleviate our discomfort.
Dentists not only strive for excellence in their business and technology, providing high-quality medical services to patients, but also need to consider how to minimize the public's fear of dentists. Of particular note, oral healthcare professionals are tirelessly promoting rubber barrier technology. I believe that friends who have undergone tooth extraction and root canal treatment can all feel it. Doctors need to use different types of "needles" to put into the teeth, clean the infected substances in the teeth, and also need different types of medicine for rinsing. The taste is not very good. Especially for pediatric patients, when they see dental tools, they cannot control their fear and often have a serious risk of aspiration and swallowing of needles. Rubber barrier technology is the use of highly elastic rubber cloth to isolate the treated teeth from the oral cavity, exposing only the teeth that need to be treated. With this protective barrier, we are no longer afraid of various sharp tools being placed in our mouth, and there are no unpleasant drugs flowing into our mouth, eliminating the accidental suction and coughing of sharp tools, greatly increasing safety.
In addition, daily self-care of the oral cavity is quite important. The emergence of oral cleaning tools has made it more convenient for us to maintain oral hygiene in daily life, such as electric toothbrushes, floss, interdental brushes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, etc. The progress of toothbrushes, such as electric toothbrushes and sonic toothbrushes, can thoroughly clean teeth and achieve better cleaning effects. Dental floss, interdental brush, and toothbrush can remove food residue between teeth and prevent the formation of dental plaque. Mouthwash can reduce bacteria in the mouth and prevent the occurrence of dental caries and periodontal diseases. By utilizing these methods and tools, we can better protect oral health.
