Are You Afraid Of The Dentist Episode 1

In this first episode, I introduce myself, talk about who the podcast is for, and share what I hope to achieve. We'll be exploring dental anxiety, everyday fears, and ways to feel a little more confident when facing the things that make us nervous.

Transcript

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Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first episode of the Are You Afraid of the Dentist podcast? I'm your host, Dr. Addz, aka Dr. Adams here. I am a dentist based in the UK. I coin myself the traveling dentist at the moment. So I've been qualified nine years as a dentist. As qualified from Glasgow, so University of Glasgow Dental School. And I've traveled the country from north of Scotland all the way down to the south of England in Southampton. You know, I like to think I've got gained uh quite a great deal of experience traveling to different places, working in different practices with different types of patients. And one of the major things that I've found is a common thread throughout all the practices I've worked at throughout the UK is that people do not like coming to see me. No matter what I do and no matter how nice I am, people do are are afraid of me. Whether they like to admit it or not, sometimes, sometimes they do is the first thing they say. I, you know, they they look at me and say, I don't like dentists, and then always uh always make sure to say afterwards, you know, that it's nothing personal. Of course, it's it's I don't take it personally uh as best I can. But obviously people do not like coming to see us, and there's a reason for that. So hence I wanted to start this podcast to talk about why people don't like coming to see us, generally investigating fear and how people can get over their fears to better themselves, whether it be their health, whether it be enjoying their life more, uh, whether it be making tough decisions and you know generally improving themselves. So another reason I'm doing this is because I do have family members in my life who they they don't like coming to the dentist, despite me being one. Uh it doesn't actually help them, help them get over their fear of s seeing their own dentist just yet. So we're working on it, and you know, for me it's a it's a personal, it's personal motivation to help uh get them the treatment that they need. Because I know a certain family member needs like three root canals, and they I don't know what's going on. I don't know what what the teeth how the teeth are, if they're in pain, or it yes, they need treatment, that's the the crux of it. So, yes, this podcast is for people who are afraid of the dentist, which is like, you know, at least 80% of the patients that I see, and to give them coping mechanisms, uh, strategies, uh protocols, and just ways to, you know, get in to see their dentist and get the treatment that they need, get out of pain and get as stable as possible. So, what do I want to achieve from the podcast? So, yeah, I'd love to become an expert in managing dental anxieties and dentophobias. I think I'm pretty good at it already. You know, people people come to see me. I had a patient today, and uh, you know, he was visibly shaking during the procedure and visibly shaking during the consultation. He hadn't been to a dentist for like 10 plus years. It was an emergency centre I was uh I was working in, and I could see him uh sweating and shaking. Um you know, he did obviously acknowledge it that he was very uncomfortable, and I did my best to make him feel at ease. I got him out of pain since he had a tooth that was very irritated and it needed the nerve taken out of. We were able to manage him very well, and he at the end of the appointment said he wanted to kiss me. And now this unfortunately, uh or fortunately, I should say, uh, impedes on professional boundaries. So I said to him, you know, although I'm very flattered, that was not necessary. So we shook hands instead and we parted ways. So this podcast is for patients like that, just so that they can find it easier in those situations, because if the patient finds them, finds them themselves at ease, then their dentist will as well. I know when a patient's more comfortable in the chair, it's easier for me to do what I'm supposed to do without having to um worry or manage their anxieties and fears, which can sometimes slow the treatment down. So this first episode essentially was an introduction to what I want to do and with the with the podcast itself. I'm really hoping to continue this podcast for as long as possible. I have done a bit of podcasting before. I did less than 10 episodes of a podcast called The Art of Dental Communication, where I was essentially helping dentists improve their communication skills, talking to patients, making them feel more at ease, things of that nature. So yeah, I think I do have some experience in it. Uh unfortunately, I didn't carry on as as I wanted to. And I'm hoping, and I'm, you know, I know that I can continue this podcast uh for the sake of my patients and the betterment or yeah, for the sake of my patience. I'm really also wanting to discuss other types of fears as well. Maybe my own fears, who knows? We can I can start to investigate those and just give people my thoughts, my experiences. I wanted to leave you guys with at least one management strategy to help overcome your fear of the dentist, which would be actually talk to your dentist, connect with them, communicate them with them, understand them, and just get your dentist to understand you as well. So I think going into a dental consultation where you are terrified and you are absolutely bricking it, what you want to do is let your dentist know that you are anxious or that you are scared or fearful of a certain procedure, or if there's anything in particular that just sets you off and is a trigger for you, whether that be the local anesthetic, whether it be the noise of the drill, uh, whether it be the smells of the surgery that bring back bad memories when you were a kid and something happened. So it's all about being upfront about what you're dealing with. And you know, I've had some patients that maybe they weren't comfortable talking to me about it, they were more comfortable talking to the nurse, the receptionist, whatever it be, just open up and talk to somebody about it. And that then will make it easier for you to be relaxed, a bit more comfortable, and uh it will help your dentist understand you a lot better as well. Granted, some of these appointments aren't long enough, and I'll be straight with you, 15 minutes, unfortunately, is not long enough to manage patient anxieties and also give them a treatment plan and execute the treatment all, you know, all in that space of time. Very rarely does that all happen. And so, you know, I do pride myself on doing all of that, and I do it as succinct succinctly and efficiently and productively as possible. Uh yeah, I think majority of the time it it doesn't always happen, you know, as I want it to, but we do our best to, you know, get patients to feel as comfortable as possible. So that was the first episode, guys. I am planning on the next episode to be a little bit longer, long enough to be useful, uh, but also short enough to maintain your attention span as well. Uh yeah, I want this podcast to be fun. I want it to be lighthearted, I want you know to get you guys to know me a little bit better. I want to get better at this podcasting, and so I'll definitely be learning along the journey. And I'm hoping to make this, you know, a long time habit. Uh to poly, you know, to get better at what I'm doing, to connect with you guys better. And there will be at some point a video format as well. So video version of this podcast, which will be fun. Getting a set together, getting some props. Uh yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna give it a good bash. I'm gonna see how we go. I have got a YouTube channel, so I'm gonna upload it to the YouTube channel. I'm gonna start telling my patients all about it. So, yeah, it's uh I think it's all about getting myself out there. Awesome. Thanks for listening, guys, and stay tuned for the next episode. Bye.