03 83609998 Melbourne's Leading Centre for Dental Fear Patients & All-on-4 Implants
  • Instagram
  • Youtube

4 ways to treat dental fear without medication

treat dental fear without medication

Treating dental fear without sedatives or anaesthetic

If you are averse to treating medical conditions with prescribed drugs, you’ll be happy to know that there are several ways of treating dental fear without medication. Dental fear is nothing to be ashamed of — it’s so common that over 60% of the population admits to having it. Addressing the fear is all about finding what works for you.

The Point Dental specialises in treating dental fear using a variety of clinically proven methods. Contact our friendly team to investigate all the options available to you.

Why might someone want to avoid treating dental fear with medication?

Dental fear is debilitating, and can set treatment back by months or years at a time, often exacerbating conditions as time goes on. It can be extremely stressful to deal with this phobia. As such, a popular way of treating dental fear is through medication — usually with analgesics, anaesthetics, anti-anxiety medication, and other sedative measures.

There is a range of reason why a patient may want to avoid using medication to treat dental fear, including:

  • High blood pressure and heart problems
  • Irregular breathing patterns
  • Adverse reactions to sedative mediation and anaesthetics
  • Past problems with addiction to sedative medication
  • Past trauma related to dentistry or other facets of life

Dental anxiety treatment options

Treating dental fear without medication has come a long way throughout human history. Fortunately, medication isn’t the only way to overcome dental phobia. There are a range of drug-free methods to distract and stimulate patients to help them relax into the procedure.

1. Meditation and breathing exercises

One of the best ways to ease dental fear without medication is with meditative techniques and deep breathing exercises. Calming techniques remove the mind from the treatment room and places it in a deep state of relaxation. These techniques seek to remove all external stimuli, and lull the mind into a series of repetitive, ongoing thought patterns.

Here’s how to distract yourself at the dentist with calming techniques:

  • Deep breathing, focusing on the mechanical motion of breathing in and out
  • Meditation to train attention and awareness on things outside of dental treatment
  • Progressive muscle relaxation to work stress from the body from feet to head

2. Visual stimulus

Cental fear visual stimulus

Dentistry is a medium that stimulates all senses. With the physical sensation of dental work comes the taste of fluoride, the smell of chemicals, and the sight of a dentist performing the procedure. A great way to distract a patient from succumbing to dental fear is by providing visual stimuli for them to focus on.

These visual stimuli can be in the form of:

  • Guided imagery such as imagining oceans, forests, and mountains
  • Television shows or movies for the patient to engage with

3. Auditory distraction

Another important avenue for distraction is through sound. At times, dental procedures can be noisy and overwhelming, especially if scraping tools and drills are in play. Auditory distractions provide a way for the brain to shut out external noise and simply focus on the auditory sensations of other stimuli.

Auditory stimuli can come in the form of:

  • Podcasts, audiobooks, and other engaging media
  • The patient’s own choice of either calm or upbeat music
  • Relaxing meditation music played throughout the clinic

4. Having a great dentist

Great dentist

The best way to treat dental fear is to have a dentist that understands your triggers and seeks to address them before treatment. The team at The Point Dental are experts at dental anxiety management, from the very first consultation, right through to your final check up following treatment.

We treat dental fear as its own separate condition, giving our customers the absolute best in care. Here’s how we do it:

  • We understand your individual phobia. We give you all the options and tailor a treatment plan for you, with or without medication.
  • We thoroughly explain treatment. We are upfront about what your procedure entails, and the costs that come along with it.
  • We put you in control. As a patient of The Point Dental, you always dictate the timing of your treatment plan.
  • We provide a relaxing environment. From calming music, to friendly staff, your experience will be as stress-free as possible.

We take pride in being able to work with our patients to achieve the best possible outcomes for their treatment. If there’s anything you are unsure of, or if there’s a particular avenue of treating dental fear that you’d like to pursue, contact our friendly team. Our expertise and dedication will put you completely at ease.

The Point Dental is here to give you your best smile. Let’s work together to address your dental fear and get treatment underway.