Dentist and pain: how to dispel a myth

Interview with Dr. Neri Pinzuti, a specialist in Aesthetic Dentistry.

Many people are afraid to go to the dentist precisely because it is commonplace to link the latter with painful experiences. But is this really always the case?

"RATHER THAN GO TO THE DENTIST I KEEP A BAD TOOTH." IS THIS JUST HUMOR OR IS THERE SOME TRUTH TO IT?

Unfortunately, there is some truth to this; the belief that going to the dentist has to be a traumatic and painful experience is very common, so much so that it causes many people not to treat their issues or conditions in a timely manner.

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF ALL THIS FEAR?
From old legacies that should no longer find any basis; I speak using the conditional because unfortunately not all specialists in the field use the painless techniques that science has made available today.
Moreover, such preconceptions often originate from a lack of correct information; when I state, for example, that putting an implant in the bone under anesthesia is a totally painless treatment my patients always look at me as if I were crazy, in fact that is exactly the case, bone is a much less innervated and sensitive tissue than the nerve of the tooth, there is no reason to fear inhuman pain in facing such a surgery, if the right techniques are used.

BUT WHEN DOES ONE SUFFER PAIN AT THE DENTIST?
Obviously, there are situations in which pain is unavoidable.
The cases in which you are likely to feel pain, albeit always controlled, are essentially when emergency dressing is needed in the presence of teeth with inflamed nerves, or when a tooth with severe inflammation or an ongoing infection needs to be extracted.
However, in my practice I use state-of-the-art local anesthesia or conscious sedation techniques to completely eliminate pain during all types of procedures.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU FEEL LIKE GIVING TO TRY TO APPROACH A DENTAL SESSION 'MORE SERENE'?
Certainly the first thing I would advise is to become well informed about the sedation practices used by the doctor. Secondly, prevention remains the key aspect in order not to get to the last stage of pain, the unbearable one that makes you 'hate' the dentist. Through regular and constant visits, it is possible to detect any problems in time and intervene with minimal invasiveness.