Overcoming dental phobia

With one in four adults suffering with a fear of the dentist, forward-thinking dental practices need to be prepared to meet the needs of the nervous patients. There are varying degrees of fear – and this can for a number of reasons. Perhaps a patient had a bad childhood experience or inherited the phobia from one of their parents. Regardless of how their fear came about or manifests itself, more often than not it is challenging to overcome – for the patient and the dental team.

Your role

As a dental nurse, you play an imperative – if not the most important – role in making sure that all patients are comfortable and happy in the practice. Often, patients will direct their questions and concerns at you. Therefore, it is vital you are as prepared as you can be for those patients presenting in the chair often filled with apprehension and dread at the sounds, smell and sights they encoutner. With a quarter of UK adults not having visited the dentist in two years– and more than a quarter only visiting when they have a problem – helping to make a patient’s visit as comfortable as possible can bring down these alarming figures.