Nervous Patients

There are so many ways in which we can help people who are very nervous of dentistry. These are some of the ways in which we can help.

Desensitisation

This is the gradual reduction of sensitivity to triggers for nervous patients. A very important technique is the three stage “Tell, Show, Do”. This means that we always tell you what we’re going to do, we then show you in some demonstrable way what we are going to do and then we do it when you feel confident to let us. Along with this you remain in control by using a gesture if you wish us to stop (and we do stop!). 

We at LifeSmiles realise that trust is hard won and easily lost.

At LifeSmiles we find that some of the basic techniques of hypnosis such as speaking quietly and making the area around the patient relaxed makes a big difference.

Dr Rutland is doing a diploma in neuro linguistic programming and uses the techniques to help people relax and help them by the way they are spoken to.

Dr Rutland is also a fully qualified coach and mentor and he uses his mentoring skills to help people through difficult situations.

Anaesthesia technology

We can use technology to help people who are nervous. We at LifeSmiles pride ourselves in using the latest technology. We use the Wand Anaesthetic System which is called a “computer-controlled local anaesthetic delivery system”.  Have a look at our page on the Wand and Dr Rutland’s description of the advantages it gives us.

Digital Dentistry

Digital dentistry is a huge help for nervous patients. Many nervous people hate having impressions and they tend to gag when they even think about having impressions taken. We pride ourselves in using the latest technology so that we no longer have to take impressions. We use an iTero 3D Scanner that makes impressions obsolete and thus nervous people do not gag when having their teeth scanned in this way.  

Handpiece Technology

We use smooth, quiet dental pieces instead of the old-fashioned noisy handpieces that vibrate more. A lot of people ask about Lasers but they cannot be used to remove the old-fashioned amalgam fillings that so many people have.

Advanced Techniques

• It is the slow drill that nervous people dislike so much as it causes vibration.
• We hardly use this at all now because we use a technique called the Hall Technique. This is a technique by which the dentist does not remove the deep decay in a tooth.
• Dr Hall proved that it is better to leave that deeper decay and seal it properly with a good bonded filling such as our white composite fillings.
• Once sealed in the bacteria that caused the decay dies off and the tooth can heal itself from within. How much better is that than drilling deeper and risking a tooth that has no symptoms becoming a painful tooth needing a root filling?

For further information on any of our services or to book an appointment, call 01635 861076