Probably only a very small minority actually look forward to a dentist appointment, but most people probably think that it is a good and necessary thing.
Dentists are, of course, very different, and even dentists can suffer from bad breath, but, luckily, we are free to choose whichever dentist we like and trust. There may be a number of other things that you would rather do than sit in a dentist's chair and the subsequent bill might also provoke some dislike, but generally, the knowledge that your teeth have now been checked, cleaned, and found in good health will fill you with some form of satisfaction.
All the same, many middle-aged people will probably be able to think back on their annual meeting with the school dentist with some degree of discomfort. In a time where modern pedagogical insight had not yet found its way into the routines of the school dentist. In a time where the dentist's fleet of instruments was dominated by a belt-driven, wailing contraption that slowly but surely drilled its way down towards the dental nerve while the sound completely filled your skull. In a time where white-coat orthodoxy was a matter of course and therefore cast a damper on any kind of smouldering disaffection and attempt of mutiny. In which, instead, you would wring your clammy, sweaty hands while your body was bent like a bow in the dentist's chair in a despairing and failing attempt to appear unaffected, alternately blinded by the glaring light as in an interrogation room and distracted by the inquisitorial gaze of the dentist thoroughly examining your carious row of teeth.
-Well, my little friend. You seem to need to learn to brush your teeth more often!
The marathon man
When speaking of dental anxiety, some people will instinctively think of the film "Marathon Man" and if you are just slightly tarred with the same brush, watching this film will hardly contribute to mitigating your diagnosis. Dustin Hoffman stars as the marathon runner Thomas Babbington Levy, called Babe, who at some point during the intricate story gets tied to a chair in order to be questioned by the former SS doctor, Dr. Szell - played by the brilliant Laurence Olivier. Dr. Szell wants Babe Levy to tell him all he knows and the cynical and callous Dr. Szell knows exactly how to to achieve this.
With a horrifying mixture of sadism, callousness, and objectivity, Dr. Szell rake up our partly repressed experiences from the dentist's chair in two short but intense scenes. Slowly, routinely, and dispassionately, he first presses a sharp dental instrument into a hole in Babe's tooth. In scene number two he slowly drills down to the nerve in a healthy tooth....!
The story says nothing about Babe's subsequent relationship with dentists and their work. You would believe he would be an apparent candidate for subsequent dental anxiety - a handicap he would have in common with at least 10% of the population. Both men and women suffer from dental anxiety, but women seem to be more honest about admitting their fear than do men.
Dental negligence
In a number of cases, painful memories of the dental chair - also less dramatic than the ones mentioned above - will be made nastier by the ravages of time (!) and develop beyond common anxiety into a real, long-standing pathological fear in the form of a phobia. It can be a phobia to dentists, dental instruments, smells or sounds from a dental clinic, and seeing a dentist will never be effectuated by these individuals even though they know they need to.
Despite a healthy oral environment which does not necessarily require dental assistance every year, sustained negligence of oral hygiene will at worst result in a need for a large surgical operation which is known not to be a particularly pleasant experience. For this reason, dental anxiety or -phobia resulting in people not having their teeth cleaned, their holes filled, their periodontal disease taken care of, etc., is a serious problem.
Painless laser treatment
Luckily, technological advances have been made that can make life easier on people suffering from dental anxiety. A good example of this is in the treatment of periodontal disease. In serious cases, part of the gums needs to be resected. In this case, modern laser treatment has a number of advantages. Dentists who have invested in this technology do not have to cut open the entire dental quadrant but can treat each tooth individually with laser. There are several advantages connected to using laser: The treatment is painless so anaesthesia is unnecessary and there are no post-operative pain, and no stitches are needed. The treatment has disinfectant properties, there is no bleeding, and the healing is rapid.
Possibilities
Mild dental anxiety is handled by finding a dentist whom you trust and who can provide you with the necessary security. Today, many dentists and their staff are more aware of the dislike and nervousness that some people feel about seeing a dentist. This has resulted in a number of initiatives in which the traditional dental clinics with their white, cold, clinical organization have been modernized with warm colours and paintings on the wall in a more cosy and relaxed design. Nowadays, dentists are often trained in relaxing conversation techniques, they often guarantee painless treatment, and the staff take time out for the patient - even when the clinic is busy. To some patients, it is a great help to know in advance exactly what is going to happen on the next dental visit. If the dentist does not offer you a head set with relaxing music, you can always bring your own. Moreover, there have been reports about successful treatment of mild anxiety by using acupuncture immediately before dental treatment.
Dental phobia
To people suffering from actual dental phobia, also called odontophobia, there is also a remedy. In this case, dental treatment can take place under general anaesthesia. In the long run, psychoanalytic therapy or classical homeopathy also may cure the problem.
Amalgam
The most rational fear to be directed at dentists is about something completely different, i.e. the susained use of amalgam fillings with their large content of toxic mercury and the ignorant attitude expressed by some dentists about its health- and environmental repercussions - but that is another story altogether.
