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Dental anxiety and phobia essays
Dental phobia essay
Dental anxiety and phobia essays
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Introduction:
We all fear pain and it’s a well-known reason for people to avoid seeing the dentist. Most end up having severe periodontal problems leading to loss of teeth. Approximately 4-11% people suffer from dental phobias and avoid seeking dental care at all costs. Many of them end up in emergency situations that require invasive procedures like extraction or pulpotomy, which further reinforces their phobia.
What causes dental phobia? About 75% of such patients have had a bad childhood experience in a dentist's office. Another 25% suffer from other issues like post traumatic stress disorders e.g., war veterans, domestic violence and childhood sexual abuse, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, for whom dental phobia becomes an unpleasant side effect. Also a lot of these patients didn't have a good access to dental care. Indirect experiences such as hearing about traumatic experiences/views of a friend or family member about dentistry may also contribute towards development of phobias.
Patients feel fear not so much from the actual pain but from the lack of control that they feel lying in a dental chair. That creates a lot of anxiousness in some patients, as they don’t feel helpless. Most dentists continue treating all patients in a similarly assuming that they all have similar pain level and will handle the procedure in the same way. Dentists should be mindful of their patient’s level of tolerance and make them aware of the entire procedure ahead of time so that they are able to handle the unexpected situations. They should take time to ensure that the patient feels comfortable at every step. Use of medications and wide array of techniques can help patients eliminate pain and anxiety and making dental visits a pleasant experi...
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..., patience and training in behavior management. This is really important, as evidence suggests that there is no difference between the oral health outcomes of people who have dental fear as compared to those who don’t. Appropriate techniques like behavior modification, sedation, medication etc., can help patients recognize and overcome their fear and modify their utilization of dental behavior. This will establish trust and increase patient compliance.
Works Cited
1.Predicting dental avoidance among dentally fearful Australian adults.
Armfield JM.
2. The effects of dental anxiety and irregular attendance on referral for dental treatment under sedation within the National Health Service in London. Milgrom P, Newton JT, Boyle C, Heaton LJ, Donaldson N.
3. Effect of fear on dental utilization behaviors and oral health outcome.
Meng X, Heft MW, Bradley MM, Lang PJ.
Dentistry is a fascinating profession for its approach to patients, restoring function as well as es-thetic. I believe that Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery is the most important specialty in dentistry and medicine which combines art with science. It is appealing when patients leave the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (OMS) clinics not only with good function and esthetic, but also in a better psychological status. And I find the AAOMS’s motto “Saving Faces.. Changing Lives..” very insi...
Well, you can stop this fear with a gradual exposure to Dental Hygiene, by maybe touching a toothbrush first, then touching a toothpaste bottle. Then, you will be fully brushing your teeth in no time. ””Really?
Are you worried about feeling pain during a procedure? Are you scared of visiting the dentist and want to know how we can help? Our office offers three levels of dental sedation in order to help make your visit to Northwest Dental Healthcare as pleasant as possible. Learn more about our dental sedation options below.
The dentist has an overall positive attitude towards patients. every now and then the patient will act very anxious or aggressive and the dentist will take notes and warn me of ways that we handle certain situations sometime she could come off as being a little bit blunt but I know that she's got a lot of experience and I choose to choose the good and what she does and says and take from that the office staff is really nice and communication in any kind of medical environment is crucial everyone really gets along and things most always get communicated well.
Winfield, H., Katsikitis, M., Hart, L. and Rounsefell, B. (1989). Postoperative pain experiences: Relevant patient and staff attitudes. [online] 34(5): pp.543-552. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T8V-45WYV7R-7G&_user=10&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F1990&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=35e6b5e8c8f803b487b35d4ae3b06cef&searchtype=a[ [accessed 8/5/2013]
"Don't avoid the dentist. Individuals who do so are more at risk of early tooth loss and gum disease. Problems with one's teeth can also lead to insecurity and a loss of self esteem. We are here to help in any way we can. Let us know what we can do to make your visit to our dentist fort collins more comfortable," Buxton states.
Many people are anxious about going to the dentist. Their fear is so severe that they would rather bear the pain than opting for dental treatment. This fear and phobia of dentists are not new but today, because of improvement in technology, skill, and training, dental procedures can be performed with minimal pain.
It has been suggested that patients' satisfaction with their dentists is a primary determinant of whether they proactively seek preventive care (Liddell A. May B. 1984). Those who are dissatisfied with their dental care and avoid preventive care jeopardize their dental health and defer care until advanced stages of disease. This finding could be very important to the military population as getting service members dentally ready for deployment is a primary mission of the Services' Dental Care Systems. Dental emergencies in deployed military populations have been well documented and have shown that those with untreated emergent conditions suffer emergencies at 7 to 10 times the rate of orally healthy service members (Chaffln JG., et al. 2001).
The practice of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) has been around for approximately four decades now. During this time there have been improvements to the technology and the understanding of how to use this form of patient pain control; however, there continues to be concern related to the safety and efficacy of PCA. As this analysis proceeds it will briefly explain what PCA is and how it is used, then delve into the benefits and the safety issues surrounding PCA use as it pertains to the patient and the nurse. Some of the benefits of PCA include improved pain management, improved use of nursing resources, increased patient satisfaction, and reduced pulmonary issues (Hicks, Sikirica, Nelson, Schein & Cousins, 2008). Some of the safety issues surrounding PCA use include infusion pump programing errors, basal infusion dosing, and proxy errors when using PCA by proxy (Ladak, Chan, Easty, & Chagpar, 2007). Therefore, the purpose of this report is to examine the benefits and risks of patient-controlled analgesia and how it relates to nursing practice.
Dentinal hypersensitivity is characterized by a short, sharp pain in response to stimuli. Dentinal hypersensitivity, which is more commonly seen in adults in the 20 – 40 – year old age group, has several etiological factors. Gingival recession and enamel loss both contribute to the prevalence of this condition, resulting in the exposure of dentin.
...amount of pain) is a great teaching tool for the patient who is able to self-report (Nevius & D’Arcy, 2008). This will put the patient and nurse on the same level of understanding regarding the patient’s pain. The patient should also be aware of the added information included with the pain scale: quality, duration, and location of the pain. During patient teaching, it should be noted that obtaining a zero out of ten on the pain scale is not always attainable after a painful procedure. A realistic pain management goal can be set by the patient for his pain level each day.
All dental patients who present to the dental office with a chief complaint of “pain” may not have an odontogenic etiology for their pain. A differential diagnosis of nonodontogenic pain includes myofascial pain, pain of neurovascular origin, toothache of cardiac origin, episodic neuropathic toothache, atypical odontalgia, of a sinus toothache, and toothache of psychogenic origin1. A review of the characteristics of pain from an odontogenic source would be useful in order to recognize any aberrations. Characteristics of pain from an odontogenic source include a dull, achy, throbbing with occasionally sharp pain. Other characteristics of pulpal pain include an identifiable condition that would explain the symptoms and local anesthesia to the affected tooth eliminates the pain. Signs of periodontal pain are an identifiable periodontal condition that explains the symptoms of a dull, aching, or throbbing pain. Also, under a load of occlusal pressure during chewing, the tooth feels sore and discomfort is only felt when biting pressure is released. Local anesthesia to the affected periodontal
Children are often scared of the dentist, it can be very hard to overcome their fear. It is best if as a parent if you briefly explain to your child what is going to happen , that they have no reason to be scared. Do not promise a reward to your child for going to the dentist. Explain to you...
The nurse should educate the patient of the importance of pain control and how controlling pain is essential to a patient’s wellbeing and recovery. It needs to be a balance of what the patient says and what the nurse observes and interprets while always respecting the wishes of the patient. Nurses have a variety of assessment tools available to assess pain in their patients. One dimensional pain scales such as visual analog scale, verbal descriptor scale, numeric pain intensity scale and the combined thermometer scale all measure the intensity of the pain (Jensen, 2011). Other pain scales such as McGill pain questionnaire, brief pain inventory, and brief pain impact questionnaire take into account aspects beyond intensity (Jensen 2011). There are additional pain assessments specialized for children, older adults, patients who are unable to respond, and patients with opioid tolerance (Jensen, 2011). The nurse should be familiar with these methods of pain assessment and know the appropriate use of each. Incorrect medication and treatment choices due to inaccurate or poor pain assessment cause patient suffering (Jensen,
AS a dentist one should be strongly determined to devote selflessly for the betterment of mankind .Patient usuall...