Hypnosis And Dentistry
How do dentists typically use hypnosis?
Hypnosis in dentistry is very much like hypnosis in medicine. If you think about it, dentistry is really a medical procedure. It's just limited to the area of the mouth. Not a lot of dentists are trained in hypnosis but the ones that are use it to help their patients relax, use it as an analgesic or an anesthetic to help reduce pain, swelling, tissue damage, blood loss and it is very, very powerful. I work with a lot of dentists who's patients are either dentalphobes, afraid to go to the dentist and for whom just the thought of going to the dentist produces anxiety, so we can help desensitize them from that, and then we can help them before, during and after the procedure. Before - to calm down, to desensitize their physical sensations to pain, during - we can help them reduce blood loss. In fact some people are so good under hypnosis that you can do an extraction or a root canal and there would be literally little or no blood loss, much less tissue damage and quicker healing. So many dentists use hypnosis themselves or work in conjunction with a hynotherapist with patients for whom it can be of great benefit.
How can hypnosis help me if I am afraid to go to the dentist?
A person who learns to fear the dentist probably at some point usually in childhood, had some perceived trauma around the dental visit. So, the very thought of going to the dentist can produce a full blown anxiety attack. Hypnosis, because again it's a tool that helps the mind control itself, can be used to desensitise a person from that fear so that the emotional attachment to the thought of going to the dentist can't be reached. We sort of disconnect those nerves. If you think about a response in the brain, it is formed like this: neuro networks are formed; we have these nerve cells. So, eventually the input 'dentist', creates an output 'fear'. What happens physically in the brain when we desensitise a person is that these nerves stop firing. When they stop firing the nervous network disintegrates, if you will, and we form a new one. So, the input 'dentist', now creates "Hey, I'm going to take care of my mouth. I'm keeping myself healthy, and it is absolutely a calm and normal more procedure." It is simply unlearning an old, undesirable response; an inappropriate response, and re-teaching the brain, if you will, the subconscious part of the mind a new response. That new response is: "This is good for me. I'm going to be calm, I'm in control, and it's going to be painless." Then of course we have to make sure the person has to go to a painless dentist.
How can hypnosis calm me during a dental procedure?
Hypnosis is often misunderstood. People want to know how can it help them? Usually what hypnotists do is prepare you for that something, whatever it may be. So, we might use a series of sessions to de-sensitize you from the fear or anxiety of sitting in a dentist chair. For some people, just getting in the chair or just going in the door for that matter is often a frightening experience. Fear is a learned response and in that case it's really an inappropriate response, because while dentistry is not always completely comfortable, it is something that we need to do and in the long run healthy for us. So what we can do with hypnosis is help the client retrain their mind to reframe, if you will, the perspective that they feel about the process of going to the dentist. Whereby, they can get themselves into a place where they can walk in and be calm and sit in the chair. Sometimes the hypnotherapist has to be there during the procedure. Sit in the chair, stay calm, relaxed, focused and not to worry about what's going on, but, worry or concentrate on something that is completely different or on the benefits they're receiving.
Can hypnosis help me avoid medical anesthesia for dental work?
Anybody who has the ability to go into a hypnotic trance, which is almost everybody, will gain some analgesic benefit (that is, pain relief) from being in this state. There is a small percentage of the population that can, literally, go through a dental procedure or a surgical procedure (major oral surgery, for example) with no chemical anaesthesia whatsoever, using only the power of hypnosis, and feel absolutely no discomfort. This could be also included for fillings, root canals, and all those nasty procedures that nobody really likes. Now, it's important to remember that not everyone can do that. In fact, the people that can do it with no additional aid is probably a pretty small percentage. So yes, hypnosis it is beneficial in trying to avoid medical anaesthesia for dental work. If you can enter a trance at all, there is a pain-relief benefit of entering hypnosis.
How can hypnosis help me with chronic dental issues?
I'm often asked about how hypnosis can help with sort of chronic dental issues like TMJ or grinding of the teeth and that sort of thing. All those conditions usually have a stress component. What we can do first of all is de-stress the client, and then help them create different responses so that, for instance, when they go to bed at night, instead of clenching their jaw and grinding their teeth, we might give them a physical trigger of squeezing their fingertips together, breathing slowly and deeply, and allowing the jaw to completely relax. Through a series of sessions we can make that the new response to falling asleep. Very soon, sometimes in as little as two sessions (although it could take more) the person is not grinding their teeth anymore; the TMJ goes away, and they're not pushing their tongue against their teeth. All that internal stress is released in another way, a much more healthy way.
