There is a class of medication that is known to have the effect of reducing anxiety in those who make use of it.
This is the sort of medication that we always expect to find in a psychiatrist's clinic.
The reason for that expectation is that we know anxiety to be a psychological construct.
And seeing that the psychiatrist is the health professional charged with the addressing of psychological issues, he is the professional we would expect to be handling and giving out anti-anxiety medication, like valium.
It can therefore come as a great surprise to find the same anti-anxiety medication in the dentist's pharmacy.
One is likely to start wondering, upon sighting such medication, what the use of it is, in the dental set up.
And it is that question, on the role of anti-anxiety medication in the dentist's clinic, which we shall proceed to explore in this discussion.
We are starting with the assumption that we all know the dentist to be the health professional who addresses teeth (and other oral health) issues.
The dentist is the person you go to when you are faced with a toothache.
This is also the professional you see when you are faced with some other sort of teeth discomfort: like where your teeth won't handle hot or cold substances.
Beyond the teeth, the dentist is also the professional you see when faced with a situation where the gums and other surrounding parts are problematic.
So, what role do anti-anxiety medications, which strictly speaking belong to the psychiatrist, play in the dentist's practice? Well, in order to understand the role played by anti-anxiety medication in dental treatment, you first need some background insight into the fact that most people harbor fears of dentists.
Most, these fears are caused by media stereotyping and hearsay.
The media has gone to great lengths to portray the dentist as nothing short of a torture artist.
The picture that most people get, of the dentist, is that of a professional whose work is all about causing -rather than alleviating - pain.
Then there is hearsay, where some people grossly exaggerate the pain that they experience subsequent to their dental visits; without giving regard to the effect their exaggerated narrations are likely to have on their listeners.
The end result is a situation where a majority of the people harbors serious fears of visiting the dentist.
And the further subsequent result is where most people experience full-blown anxiety attacks when faced with a situation where they need to visit the dentist.
Before initiating his treatment, then, the dentist is faced with two problems.
The first problem is that of 'anesthesizing' the patient, so that they won't suffer too much (or ideally any) pain during the operation.
The second problem is that of alleviating the anxiety on the part of the patient, who may be just too anxious about the operation they are just about to go through.
Indeed, some of the patients, their often excruciating pain notwithstanding, develop cold feet about going through the necessary procedures - the fact that those are the very procedures that would save them from the pain notwithstanding also.
They have to be cajoled to submit to the procedures.
And sometimes, oral persuasion won't do the trick.
They need a chemical agent to relieve their anxiety: hence the need for administration of some anti-anxiety medication, which almost always does the trick, as the patients now feel more relaxed and ready to submit to the procedures.
So briefly, that is how anti-anxiety medication finds its way into the dentist's clinic.
This is the sort of medication that we always expect to find in a psychiatrist's clinic.
The reason for that expectation is that we know anxiety to be a psychological construct.
And seeing that the psychiatrist is the health professional charged with the addressing of psychological issues, he is the professional we would expect to be handling and giving out anti-anxiety medication, like valium.
It can therefore come as a great surprise to find the same anti-anxiety medication in the dentist's pharmacy.
One is likely to start wondering, upon sighting such medication, what the use of it is, in the dental set up.
And it is that question, on the role of anti-anxiety medication in the dentist's clinic, which we shall proceed to explore in this discussion.
We are starting with the assumption that we all know the dentist to be the health professional who addresses teeth (and other oral health) issues.
The dentist is the person you go to when you are faced with a toothache.
This is also the professional you see when you are faced with some other sort of teeth discomfort: like where your teeth won't handle hot or cold substances.
Beyond the teeth, the dentist is also the professional you see when faced with a situation where the gums and other surrounding parts are problematic.
So, what role do anti-anxiety medications, which strictly speaking belong to the psychiatrist, play in the dentist's practice? Well, in order to understand the role played by anti-anxiety medication in dental treatment, you first need some background insight into the fact that most people harbor fears of dentists.
Most, these fears are caused by media stereotyping and hearsay.
The media has gone to great lengths to portray the dentist as nothing short of a torture artist.
The picture that most people get, of the dentist, is that of a professional whose work is all about causing -rather than alleviating - pain.
Then there is hearsay, where some people grossly exaggerate the pain that they experience subsequent to their dental visits; without giving regard to the effect their exaggerated narrations are likely to have on their listeners.
The end result is a situation where a majority of the people harbors serious fears of visiting the dentist.
And the further subsequent result is where most people experience full-blown anxiety attacks when faced with a situation where they need to visit the dentist.
Before initiating his treatment, then, the dentist is faced with two problems.
The first problem is that of 'anesthesizing' the patient, so that they won't suffer too much (or ideally any) pain during the operation.
The second problem is that of alleviating the anxiety on the part of the patient, who may be just too anxious about the operation they are just about to go through.
Indeed, some of the patients, their often excruciating pain notwithstanding, develop cold feet about going through the necessary procedures - the fact that those are the very procedures that would save them from the pain notwithstanding also.
They have to be cajoled to submit to the procedures.
And sometimes, oral persuasion won't do the trick.
They need a chemical agent to relieve their anxiety: hence the need for administration of some anti-anxiety medication, which almost always does the trick, as the patients now feel more relaxed and ready to submit to the procedures.
So briefly, that is how anti-anxiety medication finds its way into the dentist's clinic.
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