The most effective technique a dentist can use, Smith says, is explanation. Fear of the unknown is a major source of the anxiety. We teach dentists to take a minute or two before getting started and tell the patient what they're going to do and what it's going to feel like. I wonder why medical providers of all kinds don't do more of that. Smith reports that this method is clearly effective for many fearful patients.
Dentists report that patients who used to be so hard to work on are now easy to work on.
Before, these dentists would dread seeing patients like this come in the door because they knew they would be squirming all over the chair.