Hypnodontics can provide a solution for people with fear of the dentist as well as pain relief; this enables people to keep their mouth healthy in the long run.
Hypnodontics can help people deal with phobias and fears of the dentist. It is estimated that approximately 45% to 59% of all patients having dental treatment exhibit symptoms of anxiety either in the dental environment or prior to entering the dental environment. For some these symptoms are severe and are expressed as an overt phobia that will lead to avoidance of dental treatment resulting in deterioration to the patient’s health.
According to statistics from the Oral Health Foundation, almost half of UK adults have a fear of the dentist, with 12% of these suffering from an extreme dental anxiety or phobia. In addition, visiting the dentist is ranked number one for making people nervous – even more popular than a fear of heights.
Anxiety UK
Dental phobias can be learnt or can result from prior bad experience. The phobia will lead to avoidance that can result in mild to severe dental health problems. I recall a patient who was so traumatised that she avoided dental treatments for 15 years.
Areas of concern for a patient may include injections, fear of needles (trypanophobia), gag reflex, claustrophobia, excessive salivation during surgery or post-surgery, anaesthetic risks, intolerance to novocaine, etc. But I think the most important thing is to recognise each patient and his or her story, because they all have different needs.
How Hypnodontics Hypnosis can help?
Dental Hypnotherapy | Dental Hypnosis is an effective intervention in the treatment of dental anxieties and dental phobia. It is also an effective intervention for other dental problems as well as helping patients to comply with dental health recommendations through the use of self-hypnosis.
Patients react positively when they learn they can learn rid of the anxiety when they spend a little extra time and money to make the situation less fear-provoking for them. Of course, there are people who don’t have the money at all to take care of the dental phobia, and unfortunately people with less money often have more oral health problems. But a lot of people who have a normal salary actually would like to pay a bit extra just to take care of their psychological needs and are happy to pay whatever so that they can relax and breath during and before dental treatments. Dentists might be reluctant to refer this type of patients to a hypnotherapist or a CBT therapist, even though their patients may be perfectly OK with it.
In some countries like Norway, dentists, psychologists and academics have a long track record of working together to bridge the gap between dentistry and psychology.
Hypnodontics and CBT Therapy
Maria is a holistic practitioner and qualified Hypnotherapist and so able to offer several options for treatment. CBT is very effective, but it’s not always the best solution for everyone. For example, there are patients who are motivated and able to have treatment, but who don’t have the cognitive abilities to actually complete the CBT treatment; because every patient is different, holistic approaches are always the most effective.
The reality is that too many people lack coping skills during dental treatment, they avoid dental care and their anxiety increases. This is something that affects people‘s lives. I think it’s time for dental fear, anxiety and poor oral health to be highlighted as an oral, mental and general health problem.
A qualified, registered hypnotherapist and holistic practitioner based in Loughton, Essex, Maria is experienced in providing Hypnodontics – dental hypnotherapy for phobias and pain relief. Contact her at Maria Hypnotherapy to discuss how dental hypnotherapy can help you.
Contact Maria Hypnotherapy
This is an interesting video of the use of hypnosis for pain control during dental treatments. Warning: Please don’t watch it if you suffer from dental phobias or anxiety.
