Denis Kerrisk, Dentist, 81 O'Connell Street, Limerick.

Tackling nerves when visiting the dentist

There are a number of things which can contribute to a patient being nervous on their visit. Previous negative experiences can be carried on for many years, while some people simply have a fear of needles.
Key to successful treatment is to find a dentist who the patient is comfortable with. Patients can suffer from any of three levels of fear when visiting the dentist including Dental Anxiety; Dental Fear and Dental Phobia.

Dental Anxiety is a reaction to an unknown danger. Anxiety is very common and most people experience some degree of dental anxiety, especially if they are about to have something done which they’ve never experienced before - Dental anxiety is basically the fear of the unknown. Dental Fear is a reaction to a known danger i.e. I know what the dentist is going to do, been there, done that, and I’m scared.
This involves a fight, or flight response when confronted with the threatening stimulus. However, Dental Phobia is a lot stronger and can be defined as ‘marked and persistent fear that is excessive or unreasonable. For example a patient’s heart can start racing when passing a dental sign or surgery; you can feel the heat rising to your face and become shaky and nauseous.

On being awarded the Sensodyne Sensitive Dentist 2008 Denis Kerrisk was complimented on his sensitivity to anxious patents, Paul O’Grady of the Journal of the Irish Dental Association said;
“Across a range of conditions and treatments, patients gave testimony to Dr Denis Kerrisk, the winner for Munster. One father wrote in to speak of the exceptional sensitivity and care shown to his adult daughter who has an intellectual disability and who been been very traumatised by previous medical treatments. Dr Kerrisk succeeded in helping to relax fully in a dentist’s chair and this has had a positive carry-over effect in the doctor’s surgery. Dr Kerrisk went beyond the bounds of normal care to provide a calm and reassuring environment and state-of-mind for a frightened patient and is a worthy winner of the award for Munster.”