Lots of people tell us they are scared of the dentist and at EH Dental Care in Edinburgh we love to help put you at ease ( scroll to the bottom of this article for just a few ways that we can help.) Many surveys of top dental fears have been done but fear of an injection or local anaesthetic  is always high up on the list.

We were delighted to read about a new study in Brazil that might hold the key to the future of dental anaesthetic.   Professor Renata Fonseca Vianna Lopez and her co workers have discovered that by applying a small electric current, dental anaesthetic can be made up to 12 times more effective and increase its ability to simply “soak” through the gum tissues. This process of getting medicines into the body by using small electric currents is called iontophoresis, which is a bit of a mouthful however you say it.  But if  the research teams  can  develop this  further then maybe a needle free future lies ahead and our only worry will be how to pronounce the treatment! At EH Dental Care we will be watching developments very closely.

8 Things that you can do to help if you are scared of the dentist

1. tell us before you visit, let our reception team know or drop our dentist an e-mail in advance.

2. even if you don’t feel like it try to eat a good meal before your visit, handling stress on an empty stomach is never the best plan.

3. many anxious patients don’t like to hang around in a dental practice so book an early morning appointment or one just after a break when the dentist will be running exactly to time.

4.look up breathing exercised to help with stress, these are best practiced in advance of your visit to maximise their efficacy. here are just a few ideas from Time Magazine

5. try to get a good nights sleep in advance

6. agree a top signal with your dentist so that you have an easy way to let them know that you need a break. Our team at EH Dental Care routinely  chat to  our patients about this.

7.music can help……. bring along something you like to listen to ( preferrably relaxing music) and not too loud so that you can still hear the dentist when they chat to you.

8. Dental Injections don’t have to be painful, we have special gels to numb the surface and special techniques not to make most dental injections much more comfortable than in the past.