Dental Charity Survey Reveals Brits Are Still Scared Of Going To The Dentist
Dentists now use all kinds of gadgets, gizmos and therapies to make patients feel more relaxed, but a recent survey carried out by the British Dental Health Foundation has confirmed that many people are still anxious about going to the dentist.
The survey, which involved around 2,000 British adults, found that 33 per cent of people consider having a routine check-up more frightening than the common phobia of interacting with other in social situations and many listed dental appointments as scarier than open spaces, driving and being confronted by animals.
Of the participants who said that they regularly went to a dentist, almost a third said that their anxiety was mainly due to a fear of needles or injections, while a quarter admitted that they worried because of a phobia of pain.
Dental adviser at the British Dental Health Foundation, Karen Coates, said that many people are unaware of the new techniques dentists use to prevent pain and ensure that injections are painless and urged patients to find out about the services available to them at their local dental practices. She added that modern dental practices are altogether much more friendly places than the surgeries of old and encouraged anyone who has dental anxiety to seek help from their dentist. The main trouble with dental phobia is that it regularly stops patients from seeing a dentist for frequent appointments and this puts their oral and general health at risk.
Dentists today have an acute understanding of dental anxiety and dental phobia and they are able to adjust their chairside manner to make patients feel more relaxed.
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