7 Apps That Help Manage Dental Anxiety

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some 16% of kids (5-19 years of age)  and 31.6% of adults (20-44 years of age) have untreated dental issues. Many of those individuals (an estimated 9-20% Americans) avoid dentists because of dental anxiety and fear. While some nervousness is normal, extreme dental anxiety prevents the treatment of minor dental issues, and can lead to more serious health and emergency dental conditions in Phoenix and Mesa.

What is Dental Anxiety?

Dental anxiety is fear and stress associated with dental treatments or office. The level of anxiety can escalate to the level of a dental phobia, which is associated with nervousness, feelings of nausea or illness, insomnia, or difficulty breathing. Whether it’s just anxiety or severe enough to be considered a phobia, the root of the feat is a wish to avoid pain, injections, or the side effects of anesthesia. There’s also a psychological dimension. You may experience a loss of control or the feeling of helplessness and embarrassment.

How Popular Dental Anxiety Applications Can Help

Dental anxiety disrupts your health and wellness, so it’s important to find ways to overcome the symptoms. Therapy and other professional help are tools of empowerment, but technology can offer support and resources that manage the anxiety. Here are the top seven anxiety applications for your dental experience.

Acupressure

Acupressure is an illustrated guide to pressure points that relieves tension, pain, and anxiety, with practice drawn from ancient Chinese medicine. The application is a safe and effective way to bring a level of comfort and relief for dental anxiety.

Calm

Calm is a mindfulness application, which features sleep stories and nature sounds that lull you to sleep. The calming effects of this app help millions of people manage stress and anxiety. Calm includes Sleep Stories, guided meditations, breathing programs, relaxing music, and masterclasses. The combination of resources can help to address the effects of dental anxiety.

Colorfy

Colorfy is an adult coloring book application that helps to distract from the stressful situation and calm you down. The app supports focused mediation by coloring a range of beautiful designs. The flow of creative is both inspiring and soothing, so you can control your negative thoughts and de-stress. Colorfy helps to prevent overthinking the dental anxiety.

DARE

DARE guides you through tips that get you comfortable with the discomfort and anxiety, so you can face it. The app features helpful content that helps you deal with worry, anxiety, or insomnia, while encouraging you to breathe deeply. It’s a tool you can use to combat dental anxiety.

Headspace

Headspace helps you decrease stress, increase focus, and facilitate better coping for the triggers to anxiety. The app centers on meditations from a former monk that target topics like productivity, sleep, technological use, and happiness. The mindfulness is also helpful as a tool for addressing dental anxiety.

Rootd

Rootd is an application with an emergency contact button for immediate and friendly assistance, with exercises, tools, and lessons. It offers comfort and direct support that helps you face the panic associated with the dental anxiety. This app helps you understand and change your relationship with dental anxiety.

Stop Panic & Anxiety Self-Help

This application reinforces your good qualities to help you avoid anxiety and panic. This self-help tool taps into the techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy to support your personal empowerment in the face of dental anxiety and other stresses. The app offers training to assist with panic attacks, while supporting your emotional development via diary entries.

Conclusion

These anxiety applications are quick and easy-to-use tools when you need them. They also offer resources and special connections that support the evolution of your emotional intelligence. Dental anxiety is a common and avoidable behavior, but it’s also not something you can just ignore without potential serious consequence in the future.

Knowledge is power, so these support tools offer a wealth of resources and tools that allow you to practice mindfulness, alleviate fears, and cope with dental anxiety. At Dental Brothers, our mission is to offer the safest and most effective dental treatments in Phoenix and Mesa. We work to eliminate dental anxiety and phobias to support the most comfortable, stress-free dental experience possible from the first evaluation through dental treatments.