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Preventive dentistry is the belief that it is better to prevent harmful dental ailments before they get to a point where treatment is required. As an example, it is obvious that most patients would be far happier tightening up their oral health routine at home to stop gum disease than to have to replace a lost tooth because gum disease has reached its advanced stages. But in order to achieve this preventive dentistry you have to be in the habit of going to see your dentist on a regular basis.
For most people this is not a problem, it is just something that they do every six months or so when they receive a reminder to make an appointment. Some people, however, have a great deal of difficulty when it comes to going to the dentist because they are suffering from what is known as dental phobia. No two cases of dental phobia are quite the same in terms of the causes of manifestations but essentially dental phobia amounts to a fear of going to the dentist.
Common causes include childhood memories that are unpleasant and have not been overcome. Some people are simply terrified of injections, needles and dental implements like the dental drill. For others still, they are queasy about somebody else poking around inside their mouth. Other types of dental phobia can be caused by quite different things such as a feeling that the dentist is not sympathetic to a patient’s needs.
Overcoming these feelings can be difficult but you could do worse than make an appointment with your dentist in London so that you can have an informal chat about things. They will tell you about how dental surgeries are generally friendly, welcoming places.