For many people, a visit to the dentist is associated with fear and discomfort. In some cases, the fear is so great that those affected avoid going to the dentist for years. This significantly worsens their dental health, causes shame, and increases their inhibitions about future dental visits. Fortunately, there are ways to alleviate the fear of going to the dentist. These include yoga and meditation, which train the mind and help you relax and cope with the dental treatment.
Good dentists can specifically address anxious patients
If a dentist is familiar with dental anxiety and even pronounced dental phobias, they can specifically address their patients' needs and structure the treatment process so that anxious patients are not overwhelmed. For example, dentists in Worms take their patients' fears very seriously in their practices and address their individual needs. Patients are given sufficient time to examine the practice closely and communicate to the dental team their specific fears and what they need to overcome them. Among other things, there is enough time for relaxation exercises if these are helpful and desired by the patient.
Meditation exercises suitable for visiting the dentist
Patients can use meditation to prepare for their dental visit in advance and specifically work on their associations with the treatment room and the dentist themselves. Meditation is possible directly in the office before and even during treatment. The following techniques are particularly suitable for this:
● Breathing meditation: The patient concentrates completely on his own breathing and controls it.
● Body scan: In this form of meditation, attention wanders through all parts of the body.
● Guided meditation: With the help of audio instructions, patients can be specifically guided to relax.
• Visualizations: The patient imagines a peaceful place. This meditation is particularly effective if it has been practiced extensively at home beforehand.
● Mantra meditation: Calming sequences of words or sentences are continuously repeated in your mind or with audio accompaniment.
Why yoga contributes to relaxation
For yoga to make a significant contribution to a more relaxed dental visit, it doesn't have to be practiced in the dental office. Instead, it's primarily the regular yoga sessions beforehand that empower anxious patients. Through yoga, people learn to focus on what's important, to become more self-aware, and to control this perception. Former anxious patients who regularly practice yoga often report that yoga helps them see the world more clearly. This allows them to focus specifically on getting through the dental visit without putting themselves under unnecessary long and intense stress beforehand.
How well do patients need to master yoga to benefit from it at the dentist?
One of the great advantages of yoga is that it's not about performance. Anyone can practice yoga, regardless of previous experience or physical condition. Even very simple exercises can broaden one's horizons and provide impressive support for anxious patients. Regularly practiced yoga exercises strengthen self-confidence and promote the ability to control one's breathing and relax in a targeted manner. Patients can use these skills learned through yoga at the dentist even if they are far from being yoga experts.
