Help for nervous patients
At Carisbrook Dental we understand that going to a dentist can be stressful and something that not everyone looks forward to. We honestly feel and know we can change this. Over the last 60 years we have developed techniques to help our patients overcome their anxiety.
- Welcoming and calm surroundings
- Over 67 years of experience in helping nervous patients
- Dental Phobia Certified for 15+ years
- Relaxation aids including TVs and MP3 docking stations
Common sign of dental anxiety
- Feeling tense or having trouble sleeping the night before an appointment
- Becoming increasingly nervous while you’re in the waiting room
- Feeling like you might cry and feeling hapless when you think of going to the dentist
- Even the mere thought of a dental appointment can make you feel physically ill
- Panicking during treatment appointments and feeling that you are not in control
- Being unable to communicate your feelings due to fear.
- A severe gag reflex
Are you nervous about seeing a dentist?
We can help, using a variety of methods such as relaxation techniques, slowly introducing you to the practice, dentist and treatments. We also provide sedation for our clients. We are very sympathetic to your needs and fears.
Carisbrook Dental is registered with the Dental Phobia and Dental Fear Organisations. Both bodies vet dentists to ensure they are suitably trained and sympathetic to patients’ needs before including them on their registers. Dr Idrees received a five-star award from the Dental Phobia Organisation.
What to expect when you visit Carisbrook Dental
During your first appointment here at Carisbrook Dental in Manchester, you will be met and treated in a warm, calm and friendly manner. We don’t even have to go into a dental surgery unless you want to. Initially, we can have a meeting in one of our consulting rooms to get to know each other.
We promise that you will never be judged by us or made to feel ashamed of any phobias you may have.
In the following appointments we will take one step at a time together at your own pace.
Gentle, safe sedation
Sedation is a method of calming and relaxing patients who are anxious about dental treatment. This may be because it is complex treatment or for patients who are nervous of injections or fear having dental treatment in general.
We provide oral sedation, inhalation sedation for children and intravenous (IV) sedation for adults, to help calm the nerves of our nervous patients.
Oral sedation involves taking a tablet of medicine the night before the appointment and one hour before the appointment so you are sedated by the appointment time. IV sedation involves receiving an injection in the back of your hand, we use a sedative called Midazolam. Both methods help to relax nervous patients and IV sedation also helps them not remember any part of the treatment.
All our dentists are fully trained and we also have a specialist anaesthetist to help with the most complex cases.
At Carisbrook Dental we have a high success rate of gradually weaning our patients off sedation altogether, once they’ve formed trust with our clinicians.
Frequently asked questions about helping nervous patients
Oral Sedation involves taking medication (Diazepam) the night before and on the day of the treatment. Diazepam helps calm your nerves and relaxes you. If your fear or anxiety is mild, oral sedation may be the appropriate sedation for you.
Intravenous sedation involves using a medication called Midazolam. This is used thousands of times a day up and down the country for medical and dental procedures, therefore is safe and predictable.
Intravenous sedation is often used for patients who are having complex treatment carried out (such as bone grafting) or for patients who are particularly nervous or anxious about having dental treatment and are unable to tolerate dental treatment with local anaesthetic or oral sedation.
Treatment with sedation is designed to make you feel comfortable. You will feel very relaxed and able to tolerate treatment and are unlikely to remember anything about it after your appointment .
Oral and IV sedation is conscious sedation allowing you to be fully co-operative and communicate with us during treatment, for example if you feel anxious or upset at any point during treatment you can let us know and we can manage the situation carefully.
Afterwards, you will need somebody to drive you home and you cannot drink any alcohol or go back to work until the side effects have worn off.
Yes, local anaesthetic is still necessary as the sedation has no numbing effect on the soft tissues in the mouth. Local anaesthetic is necessary to anaesthetise the local area.
At Carisbrook Dental we use ‘The Calaject’ which is a computerised anaesthetic system.
The pain caused by injections with traditional syringes is created by the anaesthetic being delivered too quickly or with too much force. The Wand eliminates these factors by using an automated flow rate of anaesthetic at a controlled pressure for a comfortable delivery, ensuring that the procedure is not forceful or painful.
Not only this, but The Wand also delivers a more targeted injection, so your lips and tongue needn’t be numb for hours after your visit to the dentist.
Overcoming needle phobia with The Wand
You’re never too young for your first trip to the dentist! Effective dental care starts as early as those baby teeth, with good brushing techniques and sound oral health habits. At Carisbrook Dental we encourage our patients to bring their children to see us as soon as their first teeth appear, and to keep coming back for regular check-ups from there on in.
Many of our patients, from children to adults, say they feel anxious before visiting the dentist as they are scared of needles and don’t want to receive an anaesthetic.
Wanting to help our customers overcome this fear and create a more pleasant experience, Carisbrook Dental was the first surgery in the North West to introduce The Wand - a revolutionary new tool for anaesthetising teeth and gums.
The Wand is a small hand held tool that looks like a pen, which delivers an automated dose of anaesthetic to the required area of the mouth. Working at a slow rate, The Wand operates at a low pressure to deliver pain free injections.
Many patients remark that they did not feel the anaesthetic being administered when The Wand was used in their treatment. We also use bubblegum flavoured topical anaesthetic before using The Wand. This further helps the injection to be pain free and particularly helpful with our needle phobic clients.
The Wand can be used for all routine dental treatments at our Manchester practice, including crowns, fillings, cleaning and root canals.
Ready to get started?
Book an appointment at our Manchester dental practice and let our friendly team put you at ease.
