Afraid of the dentist really doesn't have to be

May 21, 2012

Bang voor de tandarts is helaas niet ongewoon. Zo’n kwart van de Nederlanders is bang om erheen te gaan en zo’n 800.000 mensen durven helemaal niet heen. Hoe komt dat eigenlijk en wat kan je eraan doen?

Afraid of the dentist

Being afraid of the dentist is also familiar to me. When I was little I had a very unpleasant experience with a dentist. You could also call him a butcher because that's how he came across to me. I was 5 years old and panic-stricken by the man. Let's just say he was notorious in our neighborhood and the name Visser rings a bell with many people....

But yes, my teeth were not very good so they had to be looked at anyway and we went to all kinds of dentists and in my memory they were not very nice moments. To the point that I went to dentist van Balen and he understood how to deal with children. You were even allowed to pick something out after treatment.

My trauma was fortunately nipped in the bud, but for 800,000 people this trauma is still very active. Often after a few unpleasant experiences or after seeing violent movies like "The Dentist," a fear is born. When it becomes a phobia you don't go at all and even the thought is so frightening that you would rather let everything rot than visit the man in the white coat.

Children and the dentist

Now one of my sons has teeth like I used to have. Bad in other words. His baby teeth are not very strong and despite good brushing he has quite a few cavities and now the other day he had to have another tooth removed. Pfff....

Now the first experience of "molar pulling" was not what you say optimal. And that's putting it mildly. So he was already a bit tense at the dentist and when he heard that his molar had to be removed he started to cry. Fortunately, as a father, you can then use hypnosis.

We had practiced sedating him together and I told him to close his eyes and think only of all the fun things on vacation. That worked and he became relaxed right there on that chair. The dentist had already figured out what was happening so she stopped talking for a moment and let me do my job.

After I calmed him down, I said, and this is very important, "As long as you are thinking about all these things and hearing the songs you are hearing now in your head, you won't feel anything or notice what the dentist is going to do. The dentist is going to work like this only you won't notice anything at all.'

After all, just thinking about something else doesn't work; you have to put a spin on it. So for example, "as long as you think about that you feel nothing. You then bypass critical thinking and create instant hypnosis by suggesting it.

He was given a light anesthetic and his molar was taken out without any shrinkage and that's even though a double anesthetic was required the first time. I myself also think that he could have had the molar pulled out without anesthesia but with your own 7-year-old son that is still just a bridge too far for me.

The funny thing was that he did think it was all done without anesthesia because he hadn't felt the syringe at all. The power van hypnosis is truly miraculous in anesthesia and pain.

Every dentist should learn hypnosis and it would also be good for them to at least avoid words such as "pain, annoying, sp ui t.

'drill, sharp, blade'. Dat soort woorden creëren direct een beeld wat meer pijn zal opwekken dan dat het al doet. Ook zal het de angst doen toenemen als die er is. Als je zelf bang bent voor de tandarts kan hypnotherapie jou ook helpen om rustig te blijven en zelfs zo rustig dat je niet eens wat voelt.

For me, this incident filled me with so much gratitude that I can do this for my infant son. I could never have done this for him as a construction worker (which is what I used to be...). And it is also so easy when you know it, at least it is easier than building a house 🙂

Feel free to leave a comment if you like. I'd love to hear your experience about the dentist.