An Effective Antidote for Patient Fear

When it comes to stumbling blocks along the way to patient acceptance, it’s not always about financials. In fact, the culprit that hinders patients’ willingness to say “yes” to dental treatment is very often the strongest of human emotions: fear. Many dentists have found a successful workaround to assuage what is often the deciding factor between accepting dental treatment—or not. For Kimberly Corrigan-Dankworth, DDS, it all comes down to 2 words: sedation dentistry.

Dr. Corrigan-Dankworth, who owns Oceanside Dental Excellence in Oceanside, CA, has offered sedation dentistry to her patients for almost 3 decades, and she believes it has transformed her practice.

Elevates the Entire Office

“Offering sedation dentistry to our patients just elevates the whole office,” she shared. “The education is challenging, but everyone who gets through dental school can definitely become certified in sedation dentistry. The coursework is simplified, and as long as you follow the systems that you learn to put in place, the patient will be kept safe, as well as the dentist.”

Calming Patient Fears

According to Dr. Corrigan-Dankworth, patients who opt for sedation are extremely fearful of dental procedures—with the treatments they dread running the gamut from relatively simple ones, such as routine hygiene and fillings, to more complex treatments like dentures or implants.

“Our sedation patients require every kind of dentistry you can think of, but the one thing almost all of them have in common is an extremely high level of fear,” she explained. “Some have had bad experiences in the dental chair in the past, while others don’t even really understand why they’re afraid, they just know they are terrified. So, we talk about how easy sedation is for them, how they’ll have headphones on and a warm blanket and pillow, and we turn it into a comfort conversation. After that, patients are usually on board to get the treatment.”

Doctor & Patient Benefits

While Dr. Corrigan-Dankworth shared that adding sedation to her workflow has led to many benefits for patients, as well as bottom-line perks for the practice, the training from DOCS Education also has provided her dental team with a sense of empowerment.

“Drs. Feck and Silverman at DOCS Education are amazing 5-star dentists who love their profession and are so giving with their advice and experience,” she said. “I would encourage other dentists to pursue this education and become certified in sedation dentistry—it has definitely changed my practice!”