For many people of different ages, the dental visit may be considered a stressful event full of dread and anxiety. Commonly, such an attitude appears due to previous traumatic experiences reinforced by a fear of pain and the unknown. Dental anxiety may lead to worse healthcare outcomes and, in some cases, even cause a refusal of treatment.
Fortunately, we live in a technological era, and modern medicine has a list of cutting-edge solutions, including noninvasive instruments, computerized anesthesia, and various Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence tools.
In this short review, we will explore some of the most effective ways to manage a patient's anxiety and thus improve the quality of treatment.
Next-gen Dental Tools
Laser is the most technologically advanced tool option for avoiding pain during dental operations. There are two main ways to use it:
- Laser cavity detectors are pen-like tools that send a light beam into the tooth. They can detect cavities much more effectively than traditional X-rays, which allows the prevention of disease development with less invasive approaches.
- Dental lasers are also used to repair tooth problems, treat gum disease, and remove dental cavities with a concentrated energy beam, guaranteeing a painless treatment.
VR and Patient Education
Patient education – is a set of methodologies aimed at increasing patients' knowledge about the upcoming surgery or procedure, which may be challenging because such complicated information is difficult for average patients to process and understand.
The only way to break this barrier is to use immersive instruments such as Virtual and Augmented Reality Technologies with a special headset that allows dentists to demonstrate what exactly they plan to do. By the way, we at the Remedico project are developing a tool exactly for such tasks.
Dentaverse is the first-ever treatment presentation software allowing dentists to schematically demonstrate some surgery or another dental procedure. Combined with a doctor's comments, this will help your patient learn a treatment plan to the last detail and, thus, eliminate all possible fears of the unknown during a visit.
Sedation Options
The most direct way to deal with the fear of pain during dental treatment is to manage its biological causes via anesthesia and sedation tools.
One of the most technologically advanced options for such a mission is Computerized Anesthesia Delivery, a special system that looks like a pen that allows scientists to deliver painkiller drugs to patients' tissues without invasive needle intervention.
Also, modern dentistry has various safe chemical compounds that help manage patients' anxiety, such as nitrous oxide (so-called "laughing gas") and different sedative pills. With modern monitor systems, dentists can track the patient's vital signs to use precise amounts of certain drugs.
Psychological solution
The human brain is a place that impacts all other organisms' systems and individual's moods and feelings. Dentists have various medically proven 'tricks' helping to handle anxiety, such as:
- Music is an effective distraction that can shift a patient's attention from the particular operation. Dentists can complete their playlists or offer patients to bring theirs, depending on the clinic's approach.
- Aromatherapy is a scientifically proven way to reduce nervous tension by using different essential oils (lavender, chamomile, etc.)
- Stress balls, spinners, etc., may shift brain attention directly to busy hands.
