Are your teeth suffering out of a fear of visiting the dentist? You’re not alone. But one study reveals how to brush away that dental anxiety and bring a smile to your face.
Your alarm clock sounds and you sit straight up in bed. Fear grips your very soul – today is your dentist appointment.
You’re sweating and your heart is pounding as you get dressed, brush and floss your teeth (twice) and look for your car keys.
You wonder if you should call your best friend and ask if she’ll go with you. You wonder if you should drink some Chamomile tea because it sometimes relaxes you…
You wonder if you should call the receptionist and tell her that you’ll have to reschedule because you just found out your cat has shingles. Then you remember, “24 hours notice is required.” Darn!
But what if somebody told you that a ten-minute anxiety treatment was available that would make that appointment bearable, or even somewhat pleasant? Would it be worth trying?
The Ten-Minute Remedy for Dental Anxiety
Fear of dental treatment is a common phobia, with up to 30% of patients in the U.S. reporting anxiety related to going to the dentist.
This particular research study is exciting not only because it shows that EFT Tapping is an effective way to calm pre-dental appointment jitters, but also because the duration of the treatment, just ten minutes, is so manageable within the context of a busy dental practice.
In the study, 30 adults waiting for dental treatment were recruited to test out the effectiveness of Tapping to calm their dental fears.
Both male and female, ages ranging from 18-70, when asked to rate their anxiety on a scale from 0 to 10, reported a 6 or above. Each were then given a 10-minute EFT treatment (which was actually 4 minutes of explanation and 6 minutes of tapping).
First, the patients described their anxiety. Then, the EFT facilitator created a setup statement using the patients’ own words. For example, “Even though the sound of that drill scares me to death, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
Finally, the facilitator asked the patients to tap on the acupressure points shown to them while describing their anxiety and repeating the self-acceptance phrases.
After the session, patients were asked to rate their anxiety from 0-10 again.
All of the patients reported a decrease in their level of anxiety.
83% experienced a drop of a minimum of four points and 73% ended up with an intensity rating of 3 or less at the second reporting period.
Researchers noted that usually the goal for a post-treatment anxiety rating is 0. In dentistry, though, it’s typical for patients to feel a bit anxious as a result of activation of the sympathetic nervous system, so a 2 on the scale was considered normal.
This study was also unusual in that the facilitator, a certified EFT practitioner, was also the dentist. (It’s neat that Tapping is getting out there into the mainstream, though, isn’t it?)
EFT Tapping has been shown through numerous other studies as an effective treatment for anxiety, fibromyalgia, PTSD, test-taking, public speaking, and a host of other issues.
It has also been shown to have lasting effects. The subjects of these other studies not only report a drop in their anxiety at the time of the treatment, but when contacted for follow-up, they also report that their anxiety level had remained low over time.
An Easy Pill to Swallow
With so many prescription anxiety medications being given out like candy these days, a simple 10-minute Tapping exercise to ease your dental fears is very good news!
Given how much research has already demonstrated the effectiveness of EFT Tapping in reducing anxiety, and how short an EFT session needs to be to work, perhaps dentists will look into getting their office staff trained in EFT to pass on this method to their patients.
If you, yourself, would like to learn how to Tap, we’ve got plenty of resources available for you. Or, if you’d like to work with a qualified practitioner for easing your dental phobias, we’ve got a whole directory of expertly trained individuals who’d love work with you.
Perhaps the next time you wake up on the day of your dental appointment, you won’t sit up in a cold sweat. Instead of panicking, you’ll spend 10 minutes doing some Tapping.
Then you’ll leisurely eat some granola and cantaloupe, sip some strong java, and drive to the appointment, thinking about what you’re going to wear to the wedding you’ve been invited to, pondering a gift idea for your friend’s retirement party, or looking forward to the cat show you and Tuffy will be attending on the weekend. ?
Until next time…
Keep Tapping!
Nick Ortner
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