3 Tips To Make Your Next Dental Visit A More Pleasant One

17 December 2019
 Categories: Dentist, Blog

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Have you recently been experiencing dental pain? Are you worried that your dentist is going to suggest that you have one or more teeth extracted or that you're going to need a root canal? Getting a root canal is synonymous in many people's minds with pain and suffering but this isn't how it should be. Modern dental practices and anesthetics make it unlikely that you're going to feel anything during the procedure. However logical that might be, it might not necessarily stop you from worrying about the process. To help you deal with your anxieties, here are some things you can discuss with your dentist.

Extra anesthetic

If you're not going to be going to your regular dentist or you don't even have a regular dentist in the first place, you should let your new dentist know about your concerns. In general, they should be happy to provide a little extra local anesthetic for root canals when asked. If the dentist tries to tell you that this is unnecessary and dismisses your concerns, don't be afraid to get up and go to a different dentist who better listens to your fears. A good dentist will definitely listen and take their patients' worries into account when undertaking any dental procedure.

Listen to music

For many people, the mere sound of a dental drill is enough to evoke a feeling of pain even when they're not actually getting any root canals done at the moment and this is something that cannot be fixed with an extra shot of local anesthetic. If this sounds like you, wear noise-canceling headphones to the dentist with your favorite playlist at the ready. While your teeth are being worked on, you're not exactly going to need to make conversation with the dentist so you can lose yourself in the music and let it distract you from what is going on. 

Reward yourself

It's harder to put off necessary but unpleasant things like getting root canals if you know that you're going to get a reward once they're done. This doesn't have to be anything fancy, simply rewarding yourself with your favorite take-out meal or a day of watching your favorite shows can be enough to overcome the hurdle of going to the dentist. Once you are actually at the dentist's office, thoughts of what will be coming afterward can help distract you from the actual dental work being done on your teeth.

For more information or tips about preparing for a root canal, contact a local dentist.