Fear of Needles at The Dental Clinic

Dentist Visit. Injections! Oh No!!! As much as you think it is paralyzing painful experience, it’s nothing like that at all. And if you have fear of needles, here are some steps to take for a comfortable enough experience:

1) Understand why you have that fear. Reflect and make sense of it. Often logic will tell you it was a childhood experience, and you are much older now to handle it.

2) Speak up and tell your dentist. Your preferred Dentist will be more empathetic and caring and minimise the discomfort. Trust is important here and it is better to stick to your favourite dentist as you have a higher level of trust.

3) Often the dentist will apply a spray or gel to numb the area where the needle will be pricked. If you have not felt it, tell the Dentist to hold on a while longer.

4) Relax your body and mind to NOT overreact to the prick which is very bearable. You can relax your mind by taking 3 very deep abdominal breaths very slowly. The key here is deep and slowly.

5) Lastly, expect some pain during the injection proper and give it a numeric scoring. Score between 1-10 where 10 is unbearable and 1 is like a mosquito bite. This will help give you a correct perspective and your mind will automatically tell you that you can handle it.

Regardless of all these steps you must have a good dentist who you can communicate with and who understands your fear. Choose a Dentist who understands your fear of Needles.