As a McKinney dentist, we have learned that there are many things most of you would rather be doing on a beautiful day than visiting the dentist. While our office is certainly not the most exciting place to be, for those of you who do come in on a regular basis, you know that it is the best place to improve your oral health, create sparkling teeth, and improve your overall quality of life through better oral care. We appreciate the patients that make it a habit of coming in, especially those who fight levels of anxiety to walk through the door.
One of the most prevalent anxieties in the world is dental anxiety. This anxiety is not limited by geography, demographics, or income. In fact, it is probably true that wherever you find a practicing dentist, you will find people that are too anxious or afraid to take care of their teeth by working with one. For between 9% and 20% of the patients that visit the dentist, that anxiety is very present and ranges between mild stress to almost panic. We understand this anxiety, and will do everything in our ability to help you overcome it. When you consider that 26% of the country will not even seek out dental care, unless they find themselves in an emergency dental situation, it becomes apparent that one of the key areas where dentists have to make an impact is in reducing the psychological fears people have of coming to see us. As a McKinney dentist, we have worked diligently to create an atmosphere of trust so that you are not fighting anxiety every time you walk through our doors, and so that when you seek treatment for the first time, you know that you can come back to a safe and comfortable environment.
Here are a few ways you can help reduce some of that anxiety.
When you visit our McKinney dentist office, we are going to give you two tools to help fight your anxiety. First, we will work with you to identify what the anxiety is. When you do not know what precisely is causing you to have anxiety, the fear is allowed to grow into something much bigger than it is. By identifying the exact cause of your anxiety, be it needles or a loss of control, we can isolate it and help you by working through or around it. Secondly, we are going to help you have a greater understanding of the things we do as your McKinney dentist. We believe that knowledge is the greatest enemy of anxiety. The more you know about what we do, how we do it, and the tools that we use to get the job done, the less likely you are to be anxious. Also, you will get to see the extraordinary precautions we take to ensure your safety and security, and gain an understanding that you are always in control. This will help to ease some of those anxieties as well. If you need medication or sedation, we can discuss those options as well.
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