“I, patient, hate the dentist”

You’d be surprised to think that the phrase we hear the most in the dental world is not ‘my tooth hurts’ or even ‘I floss all the time’. By far, when making the introduction for a new patient the most often thing I hear is “no offense to you, but I hate the dentist’.

We totally get it, most dentists don’t even like to go to the dentist! I will be the first to tell you, I am not a fan of needles. But at the end of the day, we have to get over our fears and get to know each other!

The best way to handle your dental anxiety, is to try to think of a visit to see either the dentist or your hygienist as catching up with friends. It’s all about the relationship. We have to get over the initial awkwardness, which is probably much harder for us than it is for you! By far, the easiest way to get over the awkwardness is to share something easy we can relate to. I like to try to come up with a way to ask about my patient’s pets – but to be honest my assistants usually beat me to it and I come in to them looking at pet photos before we can even get started. We would love to hear about some of your hobbies, a book you have read and really enjoyed, a trip you have taken and enjoyed, or what is going on with your family. The more our entire team get to know you, the better time you will have coming to visit us! Most patients can expect to see us every 6 months, and it is nice to catch up during that time.

A few things my team and I like to do to ‘break the ice’ are below, but honestly this works well from both sides – things we as the dental office can talk to you about, but also if you are nervous and can cut the tension with knife – try asking your doctor, assistant, or hygienist something about them!

1. Ask about music! All of us love music, but we all have different tastes. Usually a patient’s music taste aligns with either mine, or one of my assistants – and we talk about music old and new.
2. Do you collect anything? Personally, I collect watches and vinyl records. I get suggestions from patients for new record stores all the time, which is great – and it turns out that one of my patients even works for a watch company!
3. Talk about hobbies — One of my assistants mountain bikes, another likes to camp. I love snowboarding, and one of my patients restores classic cars. Even more impressively, I know several patents and other dentist that are into woodworking! We would love to you about what you are passionate about!
4. Last, to circle back to my personal favorite topic, is to talk about pets! I have heard some amazing cat stories, and we love it when patients bring their (well behaved) dogs by for their post-app visits! Talking about fur babies always makes everyone more comfortable, and makes it so much easier to get to know each other.

I throughly believe that choosing a dentist is a compound decision. First of all, you are not just choosing the doctor – but the entire staff as well. It is best when everyone meshes nicely. Secondly, find a doctor that you find is relatable, but most importantly offers a treatment recommendation that fits your needs. Third, find someone with the clinical expertise and technology to do the best work. No dentistry lasts forever, but the best way to avoid dental anxiety is to avoid pain, and minimize the visits required to fix your teeth (who wants your fillings redone every two years? Not me!).

Finally, which should be almost another topic, if your anxiety for the procedure or visit is more than just awkward, there are options for that too. I find that most people are much less anxious once they get to know myself and the team as people, not just as ‘dental robots’ there to fix their teeth. But for people with more anxiety than that, options such as medications to reduce the anxiety, oral sedation, IV sedation, or Nitrous Oxide are all great options to make both patients and dentists more comfortable. I do believe it is best if we can get to know each other first, during the consult, before we pull all the tricks out of our hat – because most importantly we just want to make sure we are the right fit first. I am not the right dentist for everyone, but want to be the best dentist I can for those of whom I am.