This one visit, in particular, caused me to always be full of anxiety when going for my routine checkups. This event took place when I was around ten-years-old at Stonegate Plaza in Etobicoke. My mother scheduled an appointment for my siblings and me to get our yearly check up at our local dentist. It was never easy for my mother to take me to the dentist. She had to convince me that we were going to go shopping afterward. My siblings, mother and I go in for our scheduled time and sign in at the front desk. When I walk in my heart immediately starts pounding and I feel a wave of heat going through my body. I look around the dentist office with curiosity. I see multiple teeth ornaments and paintings with happy faces printed on them. I think …show more content…
After a few minutes, I get called into the dentist’s room to begin my check up. A rush of nerves hit my body and I run into the restroom to give myself a brief pep talk. I finally go inside the room and sit on the dental chair. As soon as a walk in, I noticed the tray with all the dental tools covered in blue plastic. The blue plastic indicated that the tools have not been used yet. I then notice the dentist and his dental assistant sitting there with a smile on their face. The dentist and his assistants begin to make small talk with me, but I stayed quiet. Instead, my mother answers all the questions on my behalf. In that moment, I was not in the mood to talk and I was paralyzed by my nervousness. The dentist and his assistant put on their gloves and began opening the tools. They gave me a pair of sunglasses and a bib for my shirt. Then the dental chair makes a whirring sound and positions itself so it 's easy for the dentist to begin poking in my mouth with the dental tools. The whirring sound causes me to start squeezing onto the armrest to calm me down, and I remember ripping the chair’s fabric slightly. The dental assistant turns on the air compressor, which
Dentists are often thought of as people to be feared. Most people try to put off going to the dentist until their teeth hurt so much that they have no choice but to visit the feared dental office. Waiting for pain in the mouth or gums before visiting a dentist is one of the worst things a person can do. Paul J. Flaer, et al. observes, “Fear in approaching the dental visit may be generated by psychosocial factors such as history of bad experience(s) at the dentist and by the effect of poor representations of dental treatment in the media” (104). If more people could get over their dentophobia they might have better oral health and probably better overall health.
The first thing we assess when seeing patients is a visual inspection, observe gait, mouth posture and other physical characteristics patients reveal. One patient I provided care for had a history of schizophrenia and psychiatric care. Upon bringing him to my operatory I noticed he was very apprehensive and walked very slow to postpone treatment as long as he could. When he sat down in my chair I chatted with him before getting started to relieve some anxiety he had, throughout the appointment the patient was short and agitated. When he seemed agitated I would ask him about things he liked to do and he would return to a happy state before I would continue with any procedures. We made it through the appointment and he was in good spirits and said he was excited to come back and see me for his next cleaning. This was an awesome learning experience that tested my patients and ability to adapt to each patient. It helped me develop skills needed to ease dental anxiety and provide enjoyable care for patients that are apprehensive about dental
The article Poor Teeth was written by Sarah Smarsh with the goal in mind being to shed light on the issue between upper and lower class society in a particularly concrete way. Teeth and dental health are an easy thing for people to imagine in their head because everyone has a set whether they’re white and shiny or black and rotted. This makes it easy to draw a comparison between people that care for their teeth and those who don’t. However, access to dental knowledge and services which the lower class often times doesn’t have is very different between the poor and the rich. While the rich stroll through life showing off their perfect glossy white rows of teeth, there are less privileged people out there with barren mouths whose weak pale gums
Dentistry is a health science that includes the study and application of measures designed to prevent damage of the oral structures and the use of clinical procedures that that restore the normal masticatory function of teeth and esthetics, correction of speech resulting from loss of natural teeth, satisfaction and comfort of the patient, preservation of alveolar bone and tempromandibular joints. Other goals are to relief pain, treatment of a disease and maintaining the restoration for a long time in the denture without distortion or fracture.
I interacted with a man who explained to me that he had never had a good experience at the dental office. He told me that he always had pain when dealing with the dentist and that they never stopped the procedure when he was in pain. He explained how they never gave enough anesthetic, so he felt everything. Immediately he went into comforting himself by putting some earphones on and just talking to me. We held a good conversation. When the dentist came in to see him she immediately noted that the patient had very thick skin. He was a deeper toned person with dense bone. She knew that she was going to have to use a special technique to anesthetize the patient enough to where he wouldn't feel it. She was nice enough to have explained to me the procedure she was going to use and that it was better for patients like him. I was a little confused as to what she meant and some of the terms she used were little tricky to understand but as the procedure went on it became very evident of what she was trying to say. The patient was in tears, not out of pain, but out of sheer joy because he had never experienced a procedure that was as painless as he experienced today. I've never seen a grown man cry like a baby so hard, it was just the most rewarding experience. This experience solidified even more that I am definitely going into the right field. I've never felt so sure of anything before. His tears almost brought me to
Dentistry as a profession over the years has evolved rapidly in light of new scientific evidence. Rapidly evolving science and technology have implemented changes within dentistry as evidenced by new standards and guidelines being produced by nationally recognised associations including National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP) and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) in Scotland, in provision of new scientific evidence. The latest standards and guidelines produced, endorse everyday clinical practice through evidence based dentistry (REF). All dental professionals as part of continued professional development are expected to keep to date on relevant guidelines and knowledge related to their practice (REF). This is supported by the General Dental Council who state all clinicians must maintain their professional knowledge and competence throughout their working career (REF).
Moreover, dentists have to cater to the fears of the public. In today’s society many people have had bad experiences or have heard horror stories about dentists, so they are generally hesitant to get work done on their teeth. In many cases, people are consumed by so much fear at the dentist’s office that the dentist will have to administer an anesthetic and try to calm the patient’s fears.
Healthcare is a necessity to sustain society. Dentistry is an area of healthcare that I feel extremely passionate about because access to proper dental care is limited, especially in the underserved communities. As an African American, I want to become a dentist and healthcare provider in the hopes of helping patients and adding to the diversification of the field. With a growing minority population in the United States, it has become apparent that there is a shortage of black dentists. This is problematic because underrepresented minorities are in great need of access to culturally connected dentists who understand their clinical needs as much as their lives and their challenges. I believe that when the profession includes a range of ethnicities
Picture yourself with a toothache or someone with poor hygiene and knowing you cannot do anything to change it without a dentist. A dentist is specialized individual that treats the diseases and conditions that affect the oral cavity.
"Selena Gibson" the nurse called out after opening the closed door. I stood up and quickly moved forward toward the nurse. Stepping through the door I was ask to turn to the right and go down the hallway. Walking down the long stretch dragging my feet along the way I was scared to find out what the doctor was going to say. Turning to the left the room looked impersonal and cold. I was asked to seat in the chair and wait till the doctor came in with the results.
Consequently, I came over and introduced myself. We started talking and after a few minutes, I was able to help alleviate her fears. She mentioned how oblivious she was towards her own dental care. We discussed the advancement and the exponential growth in the field of dentistry and dental hygiene over the past decade. When she inquired why I desire to have a career in dentistry, I told her a story of how I started working as an assistant and was fortunate to have Dr. Bass as my mentor. Dr. Bass would always take the time to explain the surgeries and his techniques by usually starting with a discussion of how x-rays are used to locate the cause of the pain or discomfort. During the surgery, he would go step by step, explaining his surgical methods. Although tooth decay, and the different techniques to extract a tooth may be offensive to some, I find the steps to take care of them intriguing. He made me realize how much I love working with patients and how happy I would be to pursue a career as a
Introduction: In Canada, general dental health is not part Canada’s national system of health insurance (Medicare) (1) except for some dental surgical procedures that are performed at hospitals. Since Oral health does not come under the Health Act about ninety-five percent of the oral health care services are offered on a fee-for-service basis. Oral health care is under provincial or territorial jurisdiction like other health care services and publically financed dental care programs provide the remaining five percent of oral health care services (2). Thus, majority of Canadians receive oral health via privately owned dental clinics. Privately owned dental care gives these services providers control over dental service charges, types of available treatment for the patients and number of follow-up appointment for treatments or routine care. Service users pay for the dental expenses from their own pockets or utilize insurance coverage (1).
Growing up I heard many stories from my peers of their experiences at the dentist’s office. It is upsetting to say that most of my visits were vividly terrifying. As a child, the grinding, scratching, and high-pitched twangs of the instruments digging around in my mouth would leave my ears ringing and teeth vibrating every single time. The smell of fluoride and disinfectants permanently infected the air, sending chills through my body the minute I walked in. I quickly learned that latex posses an extremely unappetizing aftertaste. Needless to say, I was not always enthusiastic about going to the dentist’s office and getting braces did not make anything better for me.
I wake up in this room. My mother is to my left crying with her face in the palms of her hands. My dad, he paces the floor with his hands in his pockets. I am scared I can barely remember what has transpired. As my mother stands and looks at me square in the eyes, the nurse comes and says with a grin on her radiant face “Hello, Mr. Howard. How are you feeling?” I attempt to sit up, but my body is aching. My dad hurries over to help, but it was no use the pain was overbearing. I began to weep and apologize. My dad with a stern look on his face says, “Andra, you are fine now just relax”. How could I relax? I am stuck in this room with no memory of what happened.
holding for the past few minutes. So I just sat beside my mom and fell