Dental Fear and Dental Anxiety

Dental anxiety and phobia are extremely common but different in severity:
  1. Dental anxiety refers to having a sense of uneasiness when it comes for a dental visit. Individuals with dental anxiety have unfounded worries of seeing the dentist. Just being examined by the dentist makes them feel stressed.
  2. Dental phobia refers to an intense unreasonable fear or dread of a dental appointment. Dental fear is a more serious condition to dental anxiety. Some individuals feel terrified or panic stricken and will do anything to avoid a dental appointment.

Varying degrees of dental fear  and anxiety and phobia range from never going to a dental appointment or forcing oneself for  an appointment, but not sleep the night before. It’s not uncommon for people to feel sick whilst in the waiting room.

Do you have Dental Anxiety or are Dental Phobic?

Find out what are your options at BIDH Dental Hospital

How can you tell if you are having dental anxiety or fear:
  • You have trouble sleeping the night before an appointment visit.
  • You feel increasingly nervous in the waiting room.
  • You feel like crying or you feel physically ill at the thought of visiting the dentist
  • The sight of dental instruments, white-coated staff makes you increasingly tense
  • You have trouble breathing or get panic stricken when the dentist probing into your mouth
  • You develop headaches or muscle stiffness in your neck or back and have stress-related problems in other parts of the body during treatment
 

What can happen?

  • putting off routine oral care and not visit the dentist for checkup
  • putting up with gum infections that can lead to toothaches, pain, bad breathe that can lead to loss of teeth
  • putting up with tooth decay, broken and unsightly teeth that can make people feel self-conscious, insecure and embarrassed
  • poor oral health is known to be co-related with poorer health and possible lower life expectancy

There are many causes to why people develop dental anxiety and phobia. Common reasons include:

  1. Pain : certain people may have a lower pain threshold compared to others. They may need extra anesthetic or other pain  relieve
  2. Feelings of helplessness and loss of control : Many people develop phobias when they feel the loss of control. Whilst having treatment, some feel they are unable to see what is going on or predict if it may hurt. It is common for people to feel helpless which may trigger anxiety
  3. Embarrassment : some people feel ashamed or embarrassed to have a stranger looking their mouth. If a problem has not been looked after for sometime, this makes it increasingly self-conscious. Dental treatments also require your dentist to be physical close to you, they are just a few inches away that can make people uncomfortable
  4. Negative past experiences : Anyone who has had pain or discomfort during previous dental visits before “pain-free” dentistry may be more anxious the next time around.

If you experience any of the above, please tell your dentist or our staff about your feelings and fears without hesitation. Your dentists needs to know how you are feeling so he or she can help overcome these feelings.

nurse dental hospital

Good news for dental phobic individuals

The upside is dental phobia, like other mental disorders, can be treated and can be coped with.

Without treatment, dental phobia is likely to get worse over time. This is because the lack or delay on putting off oral care can lead to more serious teeth issues, therefore requiring more invasive treatments that can lead to increased emotional stress. 

The very first thing you should do if you think you have dental anxiety or dental phobia is to inform your dentist or any of our staff. If we know the cause of your dental anxiety.

“We can make you feel at ease and address your concern areas”

How We Help You to Cope with Dental Anxiety

You should know that most dental treatment procedures are not painful. With advances on “pain free” dentistry and technologies, dental treatments is now quicker, more comfortable and safer. Everyone has fears and concerns. Each of us deal and cope with anxiety and fear differently. 
 
If we are aware of your cause for dental anxiety, our BIDH dental team can do somethings to overcome your fears and anxiety:
1. Pain Control Options at BIDH Dental Hospital

If you have a low pain threshold, options are available to relieve potential pain prior to the start of treatment include: 

  • pain relieve medications
  • tropical numbing of the area before local anesthesia
  • use of strong  intravenous stronger pain killers during treatment
ขั้นตอนการดูแลตัวเอง

Steps you can take to Alleviate and Control Pain

  1. Check on taking over-the-counter pain relieve medications whilst waiting for your appointment visit
  2. Use an over-the-counter anesthetic designed to soothe painful teeth.
  3. When brush your teeth, use warm water.
  4. Use toothpaste for sensitive teeth
  5. Avoid consuming foods or drinks that are hot, cold, sweet or acidic that can trigger pain.

Inform your dentist to walk through with you in detail

  • what he or she is going to do at each step
  • what you are doing to expect and experience during your treatment.

Being pre-informed enables you to be at ease. Raise your hand to stop should you feel discomfort.

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Do not feel embarrassed or get to know your dentist before starting treatment. You may like to schedule to see your dentist with simple discussion on your fears and needs. You can then feel confident and secure. You are always able to request with our care team for a male or female dentist, or even a change of dentist prior to start of treatment should you think you prefer dentists of different dispositions. We will try our best to match the most suited dentist for you. Get to know our dental clinic by requesting to take a tour.

We normally your face with a facial cloth so you do not feel unease on the close proximity of a person. You are able to make a request to uncover the facial cloth otherwise as preference varies with different people.

BIDH Nurses
dental anxiety

Sedation dentistry with various level is available at BIDH dental hospital :

  1. Mild sedation with anti-anxiety medication or using nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to place you in a relaxed state
  2. Moderate sedation using intravenous sedation in placing you in a semi-conscious whereby you are awake but you are unaware of your experience
  3. Deep sedation or sleep sedation whereby you are placed in a deep sleep and will not have any re-collection of your dental experience.

BIDH dental hospital is one of the few dental clinics in Thailand that performs the full range of sedative dentistry strictly and safely under hospital standards for dentistry.

Jaw surgery operation

About Us

At a Glance

Facilities

5,933 sqm. space
7 storey building
33 Dental Treatment Rooms
2 VIP Treatment Rooms
1 Dental Emergency Room
1 Operating theater
2 Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
4 Inpatient Rooms
1 Consultation Room
4 Panoramic and CT Scan
2 Meeting Rooms
1 Conference Hall
Basement Parking
Handicapped Toilet

Safety Mechanisms

Central Supply Sterile Department (CSSD)
Fire Protection System
Smoke Compartment Door
CSSD Water Quality Control
Medical Devices Inspection & Packaging
Loading & Sterilization Process
Sterilization Process Monitoring
Sterilized Storage & Distribution

Dental Anxiety and Phobia Solution Options

If your dental fear is severe, your dentist may refer you to a mental professional before opting for further dental visits. For some portions of dental treatments, you will need to be awake in order to inform your dentist on your proper occlusion bite that requires your input for successful results and adjustment. In general, your dentist can change and adapt to your concerned areas if they are aware of your dental anxiety.

IV Sedation

Mild to Moderate Sedation

– Oral Medication for Relaxation

– Laughing Gas (Twlight Sedation)

– IV Sedation with pain management

general anesthesia

Deep Sedation

– Sleep Dentistry at Treatment Room

– General Anesthesia in Operating Room

Dental Sedation Options

BIDH dental hospital is one of the few dental clinics in Thailand that performs sedative dentistry strictly and safely under hospital standards for dentistry. We have a team of top dental specialists in the country, many of them are American board certified and international graduates. They are highly experienced and well skilled professionals.

Dental Sedation Packages

BIDH offers sedation dentistry packages for patients with dental anxiety or dental fear with varying levels

teeth cleaning sedation
teeth extract IV moderate
wisdom teeth IV deep
  • Oral and nitrous oxide sedation : mild sedation where you are conscious but relaxed; suitable for dental fillings, teeth cleaning, tooth extraction, dental veneers and restorative treatments.
  • IV sedation : moderate to deep sedation where you are semi-conscious; suitable for root canal treatments, wisdom teeth removal, dental implant surgeries
  • General Anesthesia  (GA) : deep sedation where you are totally asleep and unaware of dental treatments done in sterile operating theatre; suitable for full mouth teeth extractions, complicated wisdom teeth removal, ProArch / All-on-4 full jaw implants

Sedation Dentistry at BIDH Dental Hospital

As an individual, BIDH’s nursing and customer cre team is here to support you if you have dental anxiety or low tolerance to pain. Our patients can and do overcome dental fear and there are variety of support to have dental treatments with close communication.

“My name is Tracey and I live here in Bangkok, but I’m originally from England. I’m a teacher in an international school here. I have CDX disease which affects my teeth so my teeth aren’t great. At the moment I need some fillings and teeth removed. Even at home in the UK, I always have all my dentistry done under IV sedation. It took me a long while to find a dentist here. My friend has been attending here for her dentistry. She recommended them as really nice people. And they also do IV sedation which is how I usually have my dentistry done at home, so I came and they have been absolutely amazing! They are much more thoughtful and takes the procedure very seriously. I’ve been to the hospital for a checkup, they said lots of things that I could and couldn’t do as compared to the UK. So they’ve really looked after me! I was recommended by my friend who had a great experience. And I had a really great experience. They’ve looked after me. They’ve checked all my teeth over. They’ve given options as well as costs options. They’ve looked after me with a step by step procedure knowing how scared I am. They’re always in contact.” .  

Article Coping with Dentophobia

Conclusion

If you have a fear of dentist or have dental phobia, our bangkok dental hospital has pain-free dentistry and in-patient services in looking after your dental needs. There are several pain management with varying sedation options catering to your level of anxiousness.

The recommended sedation option for you will be depending on your actuall health condition, required dental treatment in terms of length of treatment and required consciousness if there is a need to make specified decisions with your dentist. Get a complimentary consult with our highly experienced oral surgeons.

See Our Facilities

There are various sedation / anesthesia options for investigation, procedure and dental treatments in order to resolve dental fear or dental anxiety. Ask our hospital staff team which type of anesthesia / sedative options or sedation dentistry is suited for you and then schedule appoint with our dentists for further dental treatment plan.

Sukhumvit Dental Hospital

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