When people are surveyed about what scares them about 25 percent answer “the dentist.” Dental fear is everywhere, and we completely understand why. It can be terrifying to have someone rooting around in your mouth, and even more terrifying when you don’t know what’s going on!
At New Albany Implants we take dental fear very seriously. Our entire practice is based around catering to patients just like you who are nervous or suffer from dental phobia. We don’t want you to neglect you smile just because you’re scared, which is why we designed our Retrain Your Brain system. We want to help you get over your fear as easy as we can!
Retraining Your Brain: It’s Part Of Everything We Do!
The first front in our battle with your fear is the environment at our New Albany office. We strive to make it a pleasant place that erases your past fear of dental care. Our team prides themselves on being warm, friendly, and willing to take the time to explain any aspect of your care that you need.
But retraining your brain doesn’t stop there: if you truly want to conquer your fear you need to understand what it is that has made you so terrified of dentistry in the first place. That’s a whole other set of challenges but it’s no less a part of what we do.
Confronting Your Fears
What matters isn’t so much what particular thing scares you. It may have been a dentist who said something rude to you, or a painful experience, or maybe even a TV or movie that caused your anxiety. None of those things is important compared to the thing they all have in common: they’re experiences from your past that are controlling your future.
All of the possible reasons you’re scared of the dentist originate in your past. The fear sticks around because you are unconsciously assuming that every experience you have will be just like that bad one. Hearing that makes it sound crazy, doesn’t it? You know not every single visit can be that bad, but your body is overriding the rational part of your mind!
There’s the tricky part: if you know that you don’t need to be scared it seems easy to just brush that fear aside. But it isn’t that easy by a long shot. That’s why we’ve designed our practice to help you overcome those fears. We’ll help you confront them together!
Retraining Your Brain And Your Thinking
Here’s where retraining your brain comes in. It can be tough to realize that you don’t need to be fearful of a future appointment, but it is doable. Many patients need a while to come to terms with this and to make it reality, but we’re sure you can do it if you come and see us for your dental care needs!
A lot of the patients we see still opt for dental sedation at their first few appointments. Even mild sedation like nitrous oxide can be enough to take the edge off your fear while still allowing you to confront your appointment fully conscious.
We’ve had plenty of patients graduate to being fully awake and aware during their appointments with no need for any anesthesia at all. Those patients took our brain retraining philosophy to heart!
For every one of them there are also plenty who can’t beat the fear, and that’s okay too. Some people have a fear so intense that it’s impossible to truly defeat it, and we understand. That’s why we offer four different levels of dental sedation for our patients. Sometimes all the brain retraining and thinking in the world just can’t defeat an intense fear of the dentist.
Let Us Help You!
You won’t know how easy it is to defeat your fears until you try. Let us be the practice that finally helps you overcome your fear of the dentist! Schedule an appointment with us today by calling (812) 945-7645 or by filling out our online appointment request form. We look forward to seeing you soon!