The BEST Way to Reduce Dental Anxiety

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Ever hear that?

If you fear the dentist, this could not be MORE RELEVANT!

It is inevitable, that the ones who HATE going to the dentist, have the WORST home care, avoid going, and subsequently need the MOST work.

On the other hand, those who do not fear the dentist, have BETTER home care, GO to the dentist, and subsequently need LESS work.

This is not a which came first, the chicken or the egg scenario.

If you hate doing to the dentist, take impeccable care of your teeth, and you may avoid everything but your routine cleanings!

On the other hand...

Neglect, poor home care, and avoiding the dentist will only INCREASE your anxiety!

Car Maintenance and Your Teeth

Last week one of my friends was complaining that the brakes on her car needed to be repaired, and that it was going to cost a fortune. She also mentioned that she had been told that she needed to replace the pads (for a fraction of the cost), but she just never got around to doing it. Now the problem was much worse!

Today a 23yo girl came in complaining of a toothache. She said that it had been bothering her for several months, but now had become worse. I looked through her chart, and noticed that she had several cavities noted a few years ago, but that she had no showed on several of her appointments, and then had refused to come in altogether.

The tooth was extracted because the decay had eaten through the tooth.

Like car problems, if you do not get your tooth problems addressed, they will get worse!!!

Did You Extract the Tooth or NOT???

If you need a front tooth extracted, heaven forbid you walk out of there with a space, right?? What, you want me to wear a flipper (a removable retainer with one or more denture teeth on it)?? You have GOT to be kidding!

There is a way to have it extracted, AND, to have it replaced before you even leave the dental office!!

HOW???

This cannot be done in all situations, but sometimes, the tooth can be extracted, the root can be sectioned off, and the top of the tooth (the visible part) can be bonded (with or without a wire) to the two adjacent teeth! This is usually done on a temporary basis, but can last longer than you think!

In any case, it is probably MUCH more comfortable than a flipper! Or, walking out of there looking like a derelict...

Wear those Retainers!

Probably every week, a new patient comes in for their initial exam, and in the little box that asks, "Have you had orthodontic treatment before?", they check, "Yes".

Then when you look in their mouth, their teeth are all crooked, overlapped, their bite is off, and you would never guess that they have had braces.

What happened?

They do not wear their retainers! Braces can straighten your teeth, but if you do not wear your retainer, they will move back to how they were. Maybe not all the way, but enough to be noticible.

You paid thousands of dollars to get braces; not wearing your retainers is like buying a car, but never washing it or changing the oil.

How long do you think a car would last like that???