Breathing exercises, headphones and a hand signal help plenty of nervous patients. They are worth trying, and there is a short list of them in 8 simple tricks to reduce your fear of the dentist. This article is for people those tricks have not worked for: the ones who cancel the night before or have put off a sore tooth for years. There are real options, and they work best when you understand what each one does and does not do.
Is it dental anxiety or dental phobia?
Dental anxiety is nervousness about dental care that you can push through. Dental phobia is fear severe enough that you avoid the dentist altogether, even when you know you need treatment.
The Victorian Government’s Better Health Channel describes dental anxiety as “fear, anxiety or stress associated with a dental setting”, and notes it becomes a phobia when it causes irrational fear and avoidance. The distinction matters: anxiety may need a calmer appointment, while a phobia often needs a plan.
Why avoiding the dentist makes the fear worse
Every cancelled appointment brings instant relief, and that relief teaches your brain the dentist was something to escape. A 2025 review in the journal Diseases describes this loop: avoidance “is negatively reinforced by reduction in anxiety”, so the fear never gets tested and never shrinks.
Meanwhile, a filling becomes a root canal, and the eventual visit is longer than it needed to be. That confirms the fear, and the cycle tightens.
The options, from least to most involved
Changing how the appointment runs
For many anxious adults, the biggest relief comes from control and predictability: a first visit with no treatment at all, the dentist explaining each step before it happens, an agreed stop signal, short appointments, and booking at a time of day when you are least on edge. None of this involves medication.
Psychological treatment
If the fear is long-standing, a psychologist can help. Better Health lists cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a short, structured talking therapy, as a treatment for dental phobia. The 2025 review found CBT and exposure-based techniques were superior to passive approaches in reducing dental anxiety in adults, and that they change the underlying fear rather than just getting you through one appointment. Your GP can discuss a referral.
Sedation
Sedation uses medication to help you feel deeply relaxed during treatment. The main forms are:
- Relative analgesia (nitrous oxide, or “happy gas”), breathed through a small nose mask. The mildest option, and it wears off quickly.
- Oral sedation, a tablet taken before the appointment as directed by the dentist.
- Intravenous (IV) sedation, given through a small line in the hand or arm. You stay conscious and able to respond, but many people remember little of the appointment afterwards.
- General anaesthesia, where you are fully asleep, usually in a hospital or day surgery with an anaesthetist.
The Dental Board of Australia states that “only dentists, including dental specialists, whose registration is endorsed for conscious sedation can use this technique in their practice”. Which form suits you depends on your medical history, the treatment and your fear, and is decided at an assessment.
What sedation does and does not do
Sedation is very good at getting necessary treatment done calmly when fear would otherwise stop it. With years of work waiting, it can help you catch up in fewer visits.
What it does not do is cure the fear. The Diseases review is direct about this: sedation provides short-term relief, is not curative, and must be repeated for each procedure. That makes it one part of a plan, not the whole plan.
A sensible approach for many people combines the two. Sedation clears the backlog of treatment. Then routine check-ups and psychological support where needed gradually rebuild confidence, so future visits need less help. The 2021 explainer on how sedation dentistry changes the dental visit covers the experience of sedation itself in more detail.
Frequently asked questions
Can I just ask to be put to sleep for my dental work?
You can ask, but it is a clinical decision. Most people asking to be “put to sleep” are thinking of IV sedation, where you are deeply relaxed and may remember little, but are not unconscious. General anaesthesia is a separate option, usually in a hospital, and is weighed against your health and the treatment needed.
Will I need sedation every time?
Not necessarily. Sedation helps with the appointment it is used for, but it does not change the fear itself. Many people use it to complete a large amount of treatment, then move to shorter routine visits with less or no sedation as their confidence grows, sometimes with help from a psychologist.
Is it worth seeing a psychologist for dental fear?
If your fear has kept you away for years, or returns no matter how a visit goes, it can be. Cognitive behavioural therapy is a recognised treatment for dental phobia and targets the fear itself. Your GP can talk through whether a referral suits you.
What should I tell the dentist when I book?
Say plainly that you are very anxious, what you fear most (needles, the sound of the drill, gagging, loss of control), and whether you would like the first visit to be a talk only. That lets the practice plan around you.
Taking the first step
If you are in pain now, start with emergency dental care rather than waiting for the perfect plan. If not, consider making the first step a conversation rather than treatment, such as a consultation where nothing is done except talking.
King Street Dental in Warrawong offers sedation dentistry in-house, provided by a dentist with a graduate qualification in conscious sedation and pain control, and can talk you through which option, if any, fits your situation.
This article is general information only and is not clinical advice. Speak with a dentist, and your GP where relevant, about your own health and treatment.