Visit a Family Dentist for Improved Oral Health

As your Portland family dentist, it is our goal to make our clinic a sanctuary of dental health and hygiene. When you need your teeth taken care of, want to learn more about dental care, and help prevent future problems, we are the place you should turn to for effective solutions. Being a family dentist means we are passionate about holistic preventative dental medicine as a way to avoid problems, but we also pride ourselves on being ready to deal with any problem should one occur.

Dealing with a fear of dental checkups

Over the years, we understand one inescapable fact: a large portion of the population is deathly afraid of the dentist office. In fact, thanks to numerous studies, we know roughly 26 percent of all Americans will never seek out the assistance of a dentist. Despite the fact that these folks openly admit their life will be better, their teeth would be clear, and their oral hygiene would be healthier, they will not come in and see a dentist because they are motivated by fear of such a visit.

There are a variety of reasons that an individual may fear visiting the dentist. In many cases, the main problem is a negative experience from childhood that influences all other dental visits from that point on. The level of anxiety ranges from the very mild to the very severe. Sometimes, this anxiety is due to patients not visiting the dentist in a long time and begin afraid that their teeth are in terrible condition. For a family dentist, it is important that we work with the patients to mitigate or help them overcome these fears. This way, the dental visits are more pleasant and the patients receive the dental care they need.

Identifying the source of the fear

The family dentist knows that the very first step in overcoming fear is to know what the fear stems from. If a patient does not know what specifically is causing the fear, then he or she cannot identify how real or unrealistic the fear actually is. In fact, fears without a name or a source tend to grow into something much bigger than they actually are.

Take, for example, one of the most common fears associated with medicine, a fear of needles. Many people are afraid of needles, including patients who visit the family dentist. The difference is, even though the patient knows that he or she is afraid of needles, he or she does not always avoid visiting the physician due to said fear. However, if the fear is large enough, then the patient will be more likely to avoid necessary care. Thus, we will do everything possible to accommodate the patient and keep the patient comfortable.

Some people are afraid of the needles, others are afraid of the dental drill, and still, others are afraid that they may lose control of the dental chair. All of these are legitimate, but once we isolate them, it allows us to work with or around them, so you slowly start to overcome the fear itself.