Tips For Going To The Dentist

Anxiety around going to the dentist is a super normal thing. I have personally experienced a lot of anxiety around dentists, in part due to the fact that my teeth seem very prone to getting cavities which means a lot of dental work. I’m told this is just a genetic thing, I take care of my teeth and don’t eat a lot of sugar, and I still have problems. Another important factor in my anxiety is that the nerve block they use to numb you up for dental work has epinephrine in it which can hype your anxiety up, especially if you are sensitive to it. Over the past few years I’ve been working to develop coping strategies for when I need to have dental work done. This is by no means an exhaustive list but I thought I’d share what I’ve figured out so far.

One big thing for me has been just knowing ahead of time that this will cause anxiety. I find it easier to deal with anxiety if I know it’s coming and can mentally prepare myself. This really helps me not to beat myself up about feeling anxious because it’s not a surprise. It’s not within my power to stop being anxious, my job is to cope well and live a fulfilling life despite my anxiety. Especially with regards to the epinephrine in the nerve block it’s helpful for me to remember that at a minimum all I have to do is wait until it wears off. One of the hardest parts of living with anxiety is not knowing if it will ever end. But in this case it will calm down significantly whenever the drugs wear off.

Knowing how I will feel after the dentist allows me to prepare before I go. I don’t plan much for the rest of that day so that I can just focus on resting and distracting until the meds wear off. I put out my most comfortable clothes to change into when I get home. In fact, I put them on my favorite couch so I don’t even have to go upstairs. I put an extra glass full of water next to the couch as well, along with some pain meds in case I need those. I make sure my fridge has several kinds of soft foods and beverages so I can eat or drink whatever sounds best. I make sure the remote for the tv and a phone charger are within easy reach, as well as a good book and a book of sudoku or crosswords. I usually put out a candle to light when I get home. Basically I just create the coziest environment I can.

Another thing I’ve been working on lately is thinking of dental work as more of a chronic thing. I generally have thought of each thing as acute but I kept getting frustrated that it was always one thing after another. It’s been helpful to realize that even if each tooth is acute, the state of my mouth is more long term. My dentist is confident that once we get all the old problems fixed and get all those teeth restored I won’t have significant problems anymore but that process is going to take years. I needed to find a way to apply what I’ve learned over the years about chronic illness to my dental work and thinking of it as acute was holding me back from that.

One thing I did to help with the discouragement of always needing more work was making a tooth chart with gold stars for the teeth we had already restored. I printed out a numbered tooth chart from wikipedia and blacked out my wisdom teeth which are long gone. Then my dentist and I put gold stars on teeth that we had already worked on and restored. Then we put silver stars on all my teeth that don’t need any work at all. The ones left will still need to be worked on. I needed a visual of all the hard work we had already done. I also needed to be more aware of all the teeth in my mouth that are in good shape because it’s easy to feel like they are all in bad shape, when in fact the majority of my teeth are in good shape.

Another thing that has helped with my anxiety is having a dentist and hygienist who understand my anxiety. My first cleaning at this office the hygienist sat me down and asked if I had anxiety about dentists and when I said yes she asked me to explain what my past experiences had been. It was only about a 5 minute conversation but it made a big difference. She knew where I was coming from and was able to make some small adjustments to help me be more comfortable.

My dentist is also aware of my anxiety and the fact that the epinephrine makes it worse. Any time there’s a break in my dental work he will stop and remind me to take some deep breaths and such. It’s nothing groundbreaking, in fact it’s pretty much anxiety 101, but it’s still a good reminder both to take deep breaths and that he is aware that I’m struggling and is trying to make this as manageable as possible for me.

Another thing that helps me is asking a lot of questions. A lot of my anxiety is about the unknowns. So I have become a very curious patient. I ask what he’s going to do next, how that compound works, how dentistry has changed since I was a kid, etc… It turns out my dentist is a bit of a nerd and is more than happy to tell me all about this stuff. I suspect most dentists would be that way with a willing audience.

One last thing I do is bring things with me that will help me in general with anxiety. I bring a book to read while I’m waiting to go in to my appointment and while I’m waiting to get numb. I always have chapstick (preferably with a calming scent) to help my lips not to crack on top of the other things happening in my mouth. I bring a prayer rope and repeat a very simple prayer with each knot. This gives my hands something to do, allows me to fidget, and reframes my thinking.

Going to the dentist is not an easy thing but it is an important thing for self care. It doesn’t need to be an easy thing, it just has to be manageable. I’m going to continue to work on my coping strategies and I’d love to hear what things have helped you.