Nervous patients need and deserve quality dental care just like everyone else – it’s just that it’s less likely that they will seek dental check-ups and treatments of their own accord. For this reason, dental practices need to be geared up to help these kinds of patients, with a welcoming and friendly environment, plus dental staff who understand how to work with nervous patients. It takes more than a friendly face (although this will help!); nervous patients might event have a phobia of going to the dentist and the whole experience will need to be adapted to them.
Dentists and dental nurses can undergo training to learn about nervous patients which can really help. Practices also need to adapt their ethos and make it very clear that nervous patients are welcome. Additional considerations may be needed as well, such as longer appointment times and appointments at certain times of the day.
