Many people have trepidation about visiting their dentist. This might be on any level from slight anxiety all the way through to full-blown phobia. If this is you then visiting the dentist is probably not an easy task. At Farnham Road Dental Practice, we want to offer you a better experience of dentistry so that you can look after your teeth when you need to.

There are a number of ways that we offer nervous patients support when they visit Farnham Road Dental Practice. These include:

• Communication – this is perhaps the primary skill that we can offer initially. While dental fear is common, each person’s experience of it is unique. We want to understand as much as we can about how you perceive your dental treatment so that we can tailor our other skills to change this for the better. A member of our team will talk to you, ask questions and get a full picture of your needs. It doesn’t necessarily matter if you don’t know why you are worried about visiting the dentist. We provide you with plenty of information so you know what to expect during your treatments and can ask questions about anything that you think might be difficult for you;
• Adaptation – supporting your dental visits sometimes means that we adapt our techniques and the environment to make you more comfortable. For example, you may be particularly bothered by the sensory experience of dental visits. Some patients do not like the bright lights or the noises. We may be able to soften your experience of these things if we know that they have a detrimental effect;
• Sedation – if you need to have a more extensive dental procedure, we can discuss sedation options with you. This is normally on top of any anaesthetic that we use to numb the area for treatment. Sedation for nervous patients focuses primarily on creating a relaxed mental state. Once you have had a positive visit or two, we think it will begin to change your view of the dentist. This is called creating a ‘positive feedback loop’ so you can expect to be able to approach future appointments with calmer feelings.