Sedation dentistry has helped many people successfully undergo dental work when they would have otherwise avoided the office. However, sedation procedures require you to have someone to drive you home. If you want to get dental work done, such as a filling replacement, it is possible to have procedures done without sedation and without fear.
Masking
If your concern about the filling replacement procedure is noise, masking can be quite effective. Some people opt to bring a music player and headphones or earbuds that block out most exterior sounds.
Statistics
If your worry is that something will go wrong during your filling replacement, remind yourself that much more often than not, these procedures go very well. If you’ve had previous bad experiences, remind yourself that you’re at another dentist’s office. Chances are, you put a lot of effort into your research to find a good dentist, so you can be confident that the procedure will be successful.
Pivoting
If your issue with dental work is that you have some fairly intrusive feelings of disgust and fear, for no specific reasons, practice pivoting to another thought. This is a concept in a lot of self-help books that can work for you. Choose two or three thoughts or mental images that make you feel better and that require your concentration. The idea is that, if an unpleasant thought appears in your head, you can call up one of your images and focus on that instead.
At the office of Larry Saylor, DMD, we understand that dental work isn’t everyone’s favorite way to spend their time. We can help you devise ways to complete the procedure without sedation if that’s what you want or need. Contact us today to book a consultation in Brandon, FL and learn more.
