Well, and in this morning’s medical alert, you know, a lot of adults don’t like going to the dentist, but there are studies that show up to 20% of kids have fear and anxiety about going to the dentist as well. So our next guest is here with some solutions to help. Dr. Stephen Goldberg actually invented a device to help in that regard. Good morning, Dr. Goldberg. Thanks for being here. It’s a pleasure to be here. So I understand, I read somewhere that it’s something like 20% of kids have a fear of the dentist. And then 15% of adults don’t go to the dentist because they’re afraid. Doesn’t this make your job hard?
Well, I’ll tell you, our job is really to help patients come in and have the dentistry done that they actually need. And it’s very, very important. One of the major concerns about going to the dentist is the fear, the fear that people have. So actually, um, sort of certain studies that came out of the dental fears clinic up in Seattle Washington was that actually, 50% of Americans do not even go to the dentist. Oh, 50%. That’s right. Do not even go to the dentist. And the bulk of that reason is that they have a fear of going. So my passion throughout my close to 25 years in dentistry has been to try and find out what is it really that bothers people going to the dentist? Because if you really think about it, dentistry doesn’t hurt. It’s not a filling that hurts. You can do an extraction and it won’t hurt because if it did hurt exactly what, what actually, what actually hurts is the injection, the dreaded dental injection.
That’s the first part of the appointment that a patient experiences. And that’s what hurts once you’re already numb, right? Exactly. Once you’re already numb, you won’t feel the rest of the appointment. So what I decided was I thought of a great way to alleviate the injection pain and what that actually is, is called DentalVibe. It’s a certain device that a dentist will hold, a very simple device. And we actually made it look like a toothbrush. That’s actually patient-friendly. And in this manner, you’re not afraid of it. What happens is it has a little buzzing sound. I’ll turn it on here. Okay. At the very end of it, it’s just buzzing. I’ll put it on your finger. You see what it feels like, okay, this is a certain sensation that you’ll feel in the mouth.
Sonicare toothbrush. Exactly.
It’s just sort of like that certain vibration you notice actually pulsing. That was a lot of research that I did scientific research. I turn the buzzing off for now. In any case, what happens with dentists will place it in the patient’s mouth while it’s vibrating, they administer the injection.
And does the vibration distract you from the injection?
Well, there is certainly some distraction. It’s actually pure science. It’s something called the gate control theory of science. And what that actually is, is that vibration travels to the brain faster than the sensation of pain. So the vibration gets there first, shuts a gate and you no longer feel the sensation of pain. It’s absolutely incredible.
I’ve never heard that before. It’s just phenomenal.
And I actually thought of this idea several years ago, it took me eight years to get here, to develop this product. At this point, thousands of dentists across the country began to use it as some dentists around the world. It’s just phenomenal for kids. Watch, watch this. This is absolutely incredible for children. We have little toys that they pick out. They would choose one of these little tiny puppets. Okay. What happens is a dentist would place this on the back of the device, place it in the patient’s mouth. And while giving the injection, the child is looking at the toy. The buzzing sounds going on and the vibrations happening. They give them the injection 10, 15 seconds. They’re done anyway. And they don’t want to feel the injection pain. Therefore, what they do is associate, getting an injection without pain. So for the rest of their lives, they’ll never worry about going to the dentist because they always, the only fear was the injection because that’s what caused the pain. Take the pain away. They’ll never worry about going to the dentist.
And it’s important to get them in early and get them indoctrinated for lack of a better word, you know, to, to realize that it isn’t something to be afraid of.
Exactly. You really shouldn’t have that fear. And you know, I’ll just give you a couple of points. Well, one of the greatest fears for children is fear of the unknown. They’re afraid of what to expect when they go to the dentist. So if parents can tell their children a whole story about the dental office and what happens, they get into a chair, press a button. It turns into a couch and a dentist has a little tooth counter to count the teeth that are actually checking for cavities. So those sorts of things that go on, I think let them know what to expect when they go in there, they won’t be worried about going to the appointment. There were all sorts of books there’s “Barney goes to the dentist”. All kinds of things that we use to my children as they were growing up. So they didn’t have a fear of going to the dental office. The second thing that’s very, very important is that parents shouldn’t inflict any kind of negative attitude towards going to the dentist. They may have had an experience in the past that they endured and more uncomfortable with. They should never tell the children about that. It’s really just been a positive experience. It’s a great place to go with things like DentalVibe. You don’t have to worry about the injection pain anymore. So going to the dentist has never painful experience.
All right. We’re out of time, but thank you so much. Prepare your kid and find a dentist who will be a partner with you in that. Thanks Dr. Goldberg. We appreciate it.
