How We Can Help if You Have Dental Anxiety in Oxford

Dental Design

Dental Anxiety

While some people might make light of the fact that they dread visiting the dentist for a checkup, for many it’s no laughing matter. Dental phobias and related anxiety can cause a great deal of distress to people affected, sometimes with far-reaching consequences on their general health.

A common reaction to dental fears is to avoid coming to the dentist unless absolutely necessary. In some cases, this can mean that gum disease or tooth decay will be left untreated and will progress to advanced infection, causing great discomfort and potentially leading to tooth loss. The more regularly a patient has routine check-ups and maintenance, the less chance there will be of requiring extensive dental work caused by neglect.

At One The Gallery, our practice a welcoming and friendly environment, where patients with anxiety and phobias will feel comfortable enough to receive the dental care that they need. If you have dental anxiety in Oxford and surrounding areas, we recommend that you contact us for a consultation where we can discuss your needs and help you maintain and keep your teeth.

TALK TO US, WE ARE ALWAYS WILLING TO LISTEN

The great news is that dental anxiety can be treated. Over the past few decades, dentistry itself has become far more patient-friendly and there are a number of strategies that can be used to help put patients at ease. We would encourage you to talk to us about your concerns, whether you are the patient yourself or you are contacting us on behalf of a loved one.

There are many other things that can be done to help patients overcome their fears, or at the very least feel able to control them enough to receive necessary dental treatment. Fears about dental procedures may stem from an upsetting experience in childhood, or having seen or heard other people talk about being afraid of the dentist. In other cases, it could be based on a needle phobia or even triggered by the sound of the dental drill.

Our practice has been designed with patient comfort at the forefront: we’ve paid attention to every detail from our choices in decor, equipment, lighting and noise levels, for example. From the moment you walk through the front door you will feel relaxed and calm right away. We will go out of our way to ensure that you remain calm and relaxed during your initial appointment and any treatment you may require. This is done by making sure that you are completely comfortable before proceeding with the next step in the treatment journey, and we take as much time as you need.

In addition to being friendly and approachable, our team will also let patients use hand signals to indicate if they want to have a break during treatment, which helps them to feel in control.

SEDATION CAN HELP

One of the strategies we offer patients who have dental anxiety in Oxford is sedation. In a nutshell, sedation is a type of medication or drug which is given to a patient to help them feel completely calm and relaxed for the duration of their dental treatment. We offer intravenous sedation, whereby the sedative is injected into a vein. This is an effective and safe way to help patients with dental anxiety to feel more at ease. The sedationists we work with have received specific training in order to deliver this type of sedation and work closely with our dental team so you can rest assured that you are in good hands.

Another solution for particularly phobic patients who require extensive dental treatment is to have general anaesthesia. This service is offered via the Manor Hospital in Oxford and we work with Consultant Anaesthetists to ensure our patients receive the best care.

YOU’RE WELCOME HERE

We have been practising dentistry for many years now and have helped numerous nervous patients during this time to feel more comfortable while we take care of their oral health. Thanks to the high level of qualification of our dentists, we can offer patients a multidisciplinary treatment approach. Our services include:

• Routine dental health checks
• Dental hygiene
• Dental implants
• Tooth repair
• Root canal treatment
• Oral surgery
• Healthy gum maintenance
• Teeth whitening

We would encourage you to have a look at our patient testimonials on our website to see what they have to say about our team and our practice. You can also find out more about our team’s credentials and our practice ethos, which will also put your mind at ease about coming to see us.

Here’s what two patients recently had to say about our services:

We would also encourage you to feel free to ask as many questions as you’d like when you contact us, as we don’t mind explaining things again either as we appreciate that dental terms and treatments might sound more complicated than they are.

To find out more about how we treat dental anxiety in Oxford, please call our practice on 01865 256007 so our friendly dental team can arrange an appointment with one of our specialists.