Nervous Patients

At Crofts Dental Practice, we understand and empathise with patients who are nervous or phobic about visiting the dentist. Our team is caring, considerate and compassionate, and we run a special nervous patients’ clinic to help you overcome any fears you may have and get the dental treatment you need.

A lot of patients are put off seeking dental treatment because of fear. There are many causes for this anxiety, from a bad experience in the past or horror stories from friends and family to a fear of needles, of not being able to get numb or of being out of control. Some patients don’t know exactly what the cause of their fear is.

Whatever makes you nervous, we want to help. All of our staff are well trained in working with nervous patients and understand the nervousness that can surround your visit to the surgery. We will always take your fears seriously and will treat you in a caring but non-patronising way. If you haven’t seen a dentist in some time because of your fear, we won’t be judgemental; all of our patients are treated with the utmost respect.

There are several options for nervous patients at our friendly and relaxing dental practice. As well as our special nervous patients’ clinic, we offer a free consultation with the dentist, during which you don’t even need to sit in the dentist’s chair while you discuss any issues and worries. You can always call to speak to a friendly and understanding member of staff.

We understand that having to sit in the waiting room for long periods of time can cause anxiety to rise, so we make sure that our appointments run on time and you won’t have to wait too long. You can also help yourself to refreshments as you wait.

You are welcome to bring a friend or family member with you for support during any treatment, and we have a wide range of music and TV programmes that you can enjoy to take your mind off treatment. You can also bring your own music to listen to if you prefer.

We offer cognitive behavioural therapy, which has helped many nervous patients overcome their fear, and also offer treatment under sedation. RA sedation (also known as inhalation sedation) involves using gas and air to help you relax, so you’ll be awake but not bothered by treatment. We also offer intravenous (IV) sedation, which will make you largely unaware of any treatment whilst still able to cooperate with the dentist. Be sure to bring a friend or family member with you to take you home after IV sedation. You should rest and relax for the rest of the day, and should feel fine to continue normal activities the following day.

Our practice has successfully worked with many nervous patients to help them get the treatment they want and need. If you would like to talk more about what we can do for you, please contact a member of our friendly reception team.