If the thought of the dentist makes your stomach turn, you are in good company: around one in three adults feels anxious about dental visits, and one in ten avoids the dentist altogether because of it. We see nervous patients every day, and we are good at it. Nothing will happen in your appointment that you have not agreed to first.
What a first visit looks like
You can start with a conversation, not a treatment. Tell us when you book that you feel nervous and we will make time to talk before anything else: what has put you off in the past, what you would find hard, and what would make it easier. Many patients find that simply saying it out loud, and being listened to, takes the edge off.
The assessment itself is gentle and unhurried. We look, we take any X-rays needed, and we explain what we see in plain language. You will not be judged for how long it has been or what we find; our job is to help you from here, not to comment on how you got here.
How we make treatment easier
- A stop signal. Raise your hand and we stop, every time, no questions asked.
- An explanation before each step, so nothing comes as a surprise, or no explanation at all if you would rather not know; you choose.
- Modern local anaesthetic, with numbing gel on the gum first so the injection itself is barely felt.
- Short appointments to begin with, building up as your confidence grows.
- Music or headphones if that helps you switch off.
- IV sedation for longer or more involved treatment: you remain awake and able to respond, but deeply relaxed, and most patients remember very little afterwards.
IV sedation
For patients whose anxiety is severe, or who need a lot of work done, intravenous sedation makes treatment possible that would otherwise be out of reach. A sedative is given through a small cannula in your hand or arm. You will feel calm within minutes and the dentist can complete the treatment while you are relaxed. You will need someone to take you home and stay with you afterwards. We will check your medical history beforehand to make sure sedation is suitable for you.
Building confidence over time
Dental anxiety does not disappear in one visit, but it does ease with each appointment that goes well. Regular, short, uneventful visits are the best treatment for it: an Oral Health Assessment, a hygiene appointment, small things done early before they become big things. Many of our most relaxed patients started as the most anxious.
