Self-Help Strategies To Overcome Your Dental Pain & Fears

“Take Action.
You Can’t Achieve Anything Until You Have A Plan”

Identify & Manage The Cause Of The Dental Stress Before Being Confronted With It At Your Dental Visit.

Worries about your fears cause anxiety. A degree of anxiety about an event or situation is normal. But if you worry or dwell too much it can cause disruptive problems in you life.

Take Action:

1. Identify all of the specific events or situations that cause your fears. Fill Out:
   50 Dental Fears & Our Solutions E-form
   Bad Dental Experience Patient Communication E-Form
2. Determine if your fears are realistic or fantasized.
   • Stop thinking about the fantasized portion and start focusing on the true-to-life part
   • If its real, imagine the worst possible situation related to your fear
   • Sensibly calculate the odds it will happen
   • Realistically compare the event you fear to another common life situation with similar occurrence odds
   • Determine if the amount of time you worry is proportionate worth it, relative to the possibility you will experience this event
   • Turn down your metal negative filter; stop worrying about the fears, which are not worth the negative energy
3. Have a plan to manage each fear. (review Self-Help Strategies List)
   • Balance the scales and rationally manage how much you worry about events or situations
   • Distract yourself other healthy activities and thoughts
   • Manage events surrounding a situation with the goal to decrease the possibility it will ever happen. Ie Patient doctor communication
   • Manage with the goal to decrease the physical symptoms related to your fears
   • Use Relaxation Techniques To Stay Calm During Dental Treatments

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This should all be done before you are confronted with them at a dental visit. It’s impossible to think clearly when you’re thoughts are flooded with fear or anxiety. This is why we created our Bad Dental Experience Patient Communication E-form. Your participation is essential. You can’t confront your fear until you figure out what’s causing it.

Self-Help Strategies List

Have Fun, Laugh & Stay Active During The Days Before Your Planned Dental Appointment

“Laughter is poison to fear.”
– George R.R. Martin

• Walking
• Exercising
• Sports
• Fun Activities
• Etc.

Do Your Best To Sleep Well The Night Before Your Dental Procedure
If you are stressed consider the possibility that you might not be able to sleep well. We recommend you plan ahead & do everything possible to get a good night of sleep the night before a dental procedure. Sleeping well is tremendously helpful to reducing stress for a dental procedure. And reducing stress is tremendously helpful to a good nights sleep.

10-Tips To Reduce Stress & Create an Environment For A Good Night Of Sleep

1. Get your work done before and manage your stressful thoughts & tasks before planned appointments. If you can’t finish everything, make To-Do lists in advance and promise yourself to stop thinking about stressful projects
2. Plan ahead; get everything ready for the day of your dental visit. Do this the day before your appointment. i.e. Set out comfortable clothes for your visit, food, arrange transportation etc. Then stop thinking about all that stuff
3. Make a good effort to be more regular with brushing and flossing weeks before your visit
4. Eat a good dinner by candlelight the night before your visit
5. Avoid stimulants i.e. No late afternoon or late night caffeine
6. Dark Room is best for Sleeping
7. Silence Noise or use a fan to block background noise. Make sure your roomies know you need to sleep
8. Cool Comfortable Room temperature is best for sleeping
9. Scent your bedroom with lavender
10. Set your alarm clock in advance and place your phone face down with the ringer set to silence/off. Rest assured, when an iPhone alarm is set with the “Stock clock app, it will sound even if the iPhone ringer is off.

10- Natural Remedies for a Nervous Stomach
(Use these before & after dental treatments)

1. Eat bland foods before your appointment i.e. oatmeal, bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. These also can help decrease the chance of nausea or diarrhea after treatment
2. Avoid stimulants like caffeine
3. Avoid acidic foods
4. Bitters & soda
5. Ginger
6. Peppermint
7. Chamomile tea
8. Apple cider vinegar
9. Use a Heating pad on your stomach or take a worm bath
10. Yogurt (probiotic)

Read Related Pre & Post Instructions & Follow Treatment Recommendations
Here Are Just A Few Examples:
Surgery Pre-Op Medical History Review Form
Surgical Pre-Op Instructions Tips & Prescriptions
Surgical Post-Op Instructions
Surgical Post-Op Diet & Hygiene

Read More…

10- Tips To Decrease Dental Pain & Fear

1. Identify your Fears and Take Action Before Treatments begin (See Above)
2. Do your research and choose a dentist with Superior Care Habits
3. Communicate these fears with the dentist
4. Choose preventative treatments and don’t put off treatments until you have pain. Over time, dental problems will get worse. If you don’t like pain, be smart. Bigger problems mean more disease, more dental treatments, more cost, increases the chances of pain, and increases the chance of side effects of treatments
5. Do it right the first time, don’t let insurance and price to be your main motivational factors regarding treatment decisions. Choose quality dental care from a skilled and experience dentist
6. Routinely visit the dentist at least 2 times per year
7. Choose modern conservative treatments when it’s your best option
8. Choose a dental office that invests in technologies, which eliminate or at the least decrease the odds of experiencing pain
9. Choose Advanced diagnostics and Patient safety
10. Clearly resolve all related Financial Concerns before treatment begins

Seek Attention & Supportive Help From Others

1. Seek out supporting care of a friend or loved one (talk about your fears and plans to decrease your anxiety)
2. Cuddle with your favorite pet
3. Seek out counseling psychotherapy

Have Fun! & Reward Yourself
Set Goals to lessen fears & reinforce your success by treating yourself to

• Massage
• Fun Trip
• Walk
• Awesome Dinner
• Movie
• Etc.
  Or Whatever Makes You Happy

Work with an experienced anxiety disorder coach, counselor, or therapist
Good self-help information is a great conservative step toward improvement but for some, working with an experienced anxiety disorder coach, counselor, or therapist is the most effective way to address anxiety disorder and it’s many symptoms.