Easing A Fear of The Dentist

My favorite moments as a dentist have very little to do with dentistry.

Don’t mistake me: While I’m proud of my skills and the talent of my staff, those moments which stand out to me in my service to St. John and Valparaiso patients has almost nothing to do with the success of this or that difficult procedure.

No, the best moments for me are when patients like you come in and face your fears.

And if you’re one of the millions of Americans who suffer from a psychological condition known as dental anxiety – or if you’re one of the many, many more who are uncomfortable of the idea of pain – then the face of your fears is, well, me.

Although dental anxiety is good fodder for a New Yorker cartoon, it’s definitely no laughing matter when it comes to the health of your smile – or should I say lack of health: Typically, patients who avoid seeing the dentist out of fear also tend to be patients of no dentist at all.

It is quite the understatement to say this is a bad, bad thing. Obviously, if you’re not going to the dentist (whatever your reasons), then you are not getting the professional care that your smile needs in order to remain free from dangerous infections or dysfunctions which can already be working to undermine your smile right now as you read this blog.

I’m not exaggerating, but to put it another way, think of a smile that hasn’t been examined in quite some time by your dentist in St. John as, say, an old refrigerator. For whatever reason, this refrigerator hasn’t been cleaned out, nor its contents thoroughly rotated, in a long, long time – in fact, let’s say that fridge has been ignored as long as you’ve gone without seeing the dentist.

Now I want you to imagine opening that refrigerator and breathing in deeply through your nose.

Not the most pleasant picture, is it? Well, if you wouldn’t let a refrigerator go that long without some basic maintenance, then why should you let your smile go without

All of the logic in the world won’t be enough to get you to budge and make an appointment, so instead, I want to talk with you about a type of dentistry that completely sidesteps this whole problem by making you calm enough to accept treatments which could save your smile from ruin!

Sedation Dentistry To Erase Your Fears

While my team and I make a great effort to ensure that your experience with us is as relaxing as possible from start to finish, I’ve learned that presentation isn’t always enough.

Some people have a very sensitive gag reflex, and no amount of soft music or mood lighting can overcome what is a very real physiological symptom of their fear. The patient kind wind up feeling frustrated and inadequate, and at the end of the day they won’t have received the treatment that they desperately need.

Thanks to sedation dentistry, however, I can calm the nerves of even the most anxious patients (even you!) so that they can calmly and gently accept the services I can provide.

Basically, all it involves is giving you a mild sedative (usually diazepam, otherwise known commercially as Valium) about an hour or so before your procedure is to begin, and once it starts to kick in you will notice a significant drop in your anxiety levels.

This will allow me and my staff to go about delivering the care you need without having you squirm in your seat and potentially disrupt the treatment and cause extra damage to your smile in the process.

Finding The Courage To Make A Call

There’s no pill for courage, unfortunately (at least not yet), so that means I still need you to work up the nerve to make an appointment so that you can save your smile from any hidden conditions lurking around in there.

I have two locations in Northwest Indiana for your convenience. If you live in St. John, give me a call at 219-322-9920. If Valparaiso is where you hang your hat, so to speak, then call me at 219-462-1970.

Regardless of where you call home, you can click here to request an appointment with either location.