Quite a few people are afraid of getting procedures done by a dentist. People tend to neglect their oral health due to fear of procedures such as tooth extraction or RCT. There exists quite a few ways to calm them and reduce dental anxiety before performing the procedure. A new approach in this regard is using Lavender oil before the procedure.
In a study conducted in King’s college in London, around 340 patients who were to undergo dental treatment were exposed to lavender oil scent prior to the dental procedure they were to undergo. It was seen that the people who were exposed to lavender oil scent were less tense and felt relaxed during the dental procedure.
The British Psychological society however, opposes this and claims that Lavender oil has no significant effect on dental anxiety of a patient. They recommend Hypnotherapy as an effective strategy to combat dental anxiety of patients.
Another study was done on a group of patients to study the effect of lavender oil on dental anxiety. The results showed that the patients who were not exposed to lavender oil had a dental anxiety level of 10.7 and the ones that were exposed to the scent from a candle with 5 drops of lavender oil showed a dental anxiety level of 7.5.
Dentophobia – Dental Anxiety – not only poses problems for the patient but also the dentist who does the procedure. The quality of treatment is also affected as a result. Hence, it is important for the dentist to control dental anxiety before performing any procedures as it can severely impact the quality of treatment. This is where the use of Lavender oil as a relaxant comes in to play.
The British Dental Association suggests that the dentist should use various methods such as hypnotherapy and counseling to relax and comfort their patient.
The technique that is used to combat dental anxiety should be specific to the type of treatment and the level of dental anxiety the patient shows. For a routine diagnostic procedure, counseling might be sufficient while hypnotherapy can be used for an invasive procedure such as Root Canal Treatment.
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