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The office staff can only do so much to alleviate a patient's fears. The dental professional's biggest responsibility is to provide caring, quality dental work with a minimum of operative and post-operative pain. The dental professional cannot be expected to produce perfect pain control for someone who is emotionally charged up and unwilling to assume responsibility for his or her fears.
It is important to remember that the reasons for patient's fears can be very different, so it is imperative that the dentist approach each patient anew and individualize each treatment plan, using the techniques in this manual as a guide.
The patient must take some of the responsibilities for treatment as well. The patient should be provided literature detailing effective relaxation techniques, learning distraction techniques, and becoming assertive enough in the dental operatory to tell the dentist when something bothers them. Most important, the patient must be open to developing trust is the dental staff.
There are several behavioral, non-pharmacologic techniques available for reducing a patient's anxiety or fear of dental treatment. If relaxation techniques and compassionate dentistry is used in conjunction with local anesthesia, many patients can easily be treated with no additional medication necessary. Satisfied anxious patients can become regular, referring members of any dental practice. All it takes is a caring dentist as well as dental staff willing to take a little extra time to treat not only the patient's teeth, but also the psychological fears that have kept anxious patients from seeking routine dental care.
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