Dentophobiais an interesting dental topic to cover seeing as it affects so many people toa degree or another. Dentophobia is the fear of the dentist, visiting the dentist or any dental treatment. For many people their fear of dentists starts at childhood, it is such a big problem that there are dentist that specialise in child dentistry claiming to not cause pain and not be as frightening. Well actually there are dentist who advertise in this fashion for all age groups.

Dentophobia makes things worse
People who suffer with more severe dentophobia reserve their dental visits to only emergencies which ofcourse means that their dental problems are made worse by the lack of dental checkups. Being more afraid of the dentist doesn't mean that you'll look after your teeth better to avoid having to visit them.

What causes Dentophobia
There are many causes, lots of people have traumatic experiences as children which cause life long fear of dental treatment. Sharp tools, drills, drill sounds, not being able to see what's happening and some pain all cause a fear or dislike of the treatment. Even a simple cleaning of plaque at the gum line can be slightly painful, quite uncomfortable and cause bleeding. The good news however is that these treatments nearly always don't last very long and if you look after your teeth you can limit dental vists to once or twice a year.

How can I ease my Dentophobia
The best way is to talk to your dentist, explain your fears and worries, he (or she ofcourse) will be more than willing to hear your fears and reassure you, and try as hard as possible to avoid what may be causing your fears. Local anaesthetic to stop pain for example, or talking you through what he's doing and when you are about to expeirence some pain. If need be you can talk to your doctor about taking a mild tranquiliser before your dental visit.