Dentophobia – doesn’t nearly everybody suffer this to some extent? One big problem is that it affects how we receive help or attention which is necessary for our good health and well being; it affects something we need to do, not something we can easily choose not to do. The dentophobic not only has a hard time, themselves, but they make it very hard work for the dentist, who, after all, is trying to render help and assistance in the field of dentistry; dentists are not counsellors, wrestlers or magicians.

Wouldn’t it be good if dentophobic patients could be given a natural form of help to feel calm and at ease, to feel tranquil and comfortable, when at their dentist’s practice or in the chair. Just one good visit to their dentist would help break the cycle of unreasonable fear and would help reinforce any suggestions that brought about its passing. If you think this would be too easy or if you are wondering if it would work for everybody, read on.

The root of dentophobia is a fear of loosing control. Most people dislike the idea of loosing control, to some degree or other but some people are far more insecure than others; it is a fundamental character trait and their lives are organised around it, which ironically makes them appear confident and in control. The truth is that they are only comfortable when they are in control and have a genuine fear of all experiences where they are not.

We’ve all seen Paul McKenna and, no, a person cannot be made to do anything they don’t want to do. Anyone interested in seeing a hypnotist, doing a show in town, knows that ten people are going to get up on stage and shout that the Martians are coming or run around like a chimp. When they buy their ticket, they are even closer to that stage. When they are there they know that they could be one of those ten people. When the hypnotist asks for volunteers, they volunteer to go on stage, to shout that the Martians are coming or run around like a chimp. They are doing this because they volunteered; they wanted to.

In clinical hypnosis, the patient is guided in relaxation until the body is so relaxed that it is an unbelievably marvellous experience; the subconscious, also, relaxes and so do its barriers. It is possible, if the patient wants to do something, to make certain positive suggestions connected with this thing the patient wants to do; if the person genuinely wants to do this thing or make this change, these suggestions will be adopted into the subconscious and become part of that person’s character. This is hypnotherapy and usually takes place during one session.

There is another form of help that hypnosis can offer; this is hypnoanalysis. Hypnoanalysis usually takes around eight sessions and is particularly useful where a person’s problem has its cause way back in the time when their character was being formed. There would have been an event so frightening or, as a child, they would have made a misjudgement which led them to be so embarrassed or guilty that the emotion attached to that event was overwhelming; the subconscious would have felt that this memory was too much for little Johnny or Joanna and would have hidden it away, immediately. This is called a repression and the adult John or Jo would have no idea of its existence and if they were told about it, they would deny it.

The problem is that this repression has made a part of their character. The subconscious has been keeping it hidden, this has been extra work, and the subconscious will need some kind of overtime payment. It takes this by giving John or Jo a piece of abnormal behaviour; a phobia. To simply block this phobia will force the subconscious to give John or Jo a different piece of abnormal behaviour; it will have its payment, one way or another. One way to clear the problem from its root upwards is to guide John or Jo into hypnosis, let them discover when and where this repression was made and allow them to re-experience it. This time it all comes out and is no longer a repression; no need for overtime pay – no phobia.

There are three main character types. Some of us are straight down the line, one type or another; some of us are a mixture of two or of all three types. Two of the main types work well with hypnosis, one type does not. The type which does not is like this because they “know” what is going to happen and they do not want it happening to them; if you try to explain the reality, they will not have it. This is the insecure type who, most often, would be the dentophobics.

However, dentophobia does affect many people. If a sample of dentophobics were offered the suggestion that hypnotherapy, of some sort, would be of help, the people from this character type would weed themselves out – “Pah, let somebody else take over my mind, they’d make me do something I didn’t want to. You must be joking.” Those who were interested and asked for more information would probably get on well with the help that could be offered in hypnosis; not only removing the cause of their dentophobia but also bringing about positive changes to their lives and gaining a deep personal understanding.