If you are one of the millions of Americans who dread even the prospect of sitting down in the dental chair, you know that visits to the dentist are never a simple matter. People fear going to the dentist for many reasons, such as a bad past experience, a poor dentist-patient relationship, or even just the intense embarrassment of having a stranger look into and prod around your mouth, one of the most intimate parts of your body. But the most common fear of the dentist is rooted (pardon the terrible pun) in pain. Dental pain, with needle injections as the primary culprit, is a very real phobia for many people. That’s why dentists have developed a method of giving injections that allows for pain-free dentistry.
What is pain-free dentistry?
Painless dental injections, understandably, might sound like rare unicorns to you. Traditional injections have been in use for whole generations now, making them seem like an unavoidable part of life, but in fact they aren’t anymore. If you have been postponing dental procedures because of painful injections, there’s no longer any reason to. (Please keep in mind your conditions will only worsen over time if you avoid treatment, and oral health issues can negatively impact your overall health).
DentalVibe’s Comfort Injection System is making patients’ dental fears a thing of the past by utilizing the ingenious gate control theory of pain. The concept is simple: One pleasant sensation (a gentle vibration) shuts down the signals of a more painful sensation (the sting of needle injections), resulting in injections that many patients say have indeed given them a pain-free dentistry experience.
Controlling the gates to pain
The dentists behind DentalVibe researched pain studies and learned that the gate control theory of pain was the key to closing what’s called the neural “pain gate.” When you experience a pleasant sensation and a more uncomfortable sensation at the same time, the signals for the pleasant sensation are sent to the brain, while the signals from the uncomfortable sensation are blocked.
When you have a traditional dental injection, there’s nothing to block the pain signals from going straight to your brain as the needle stings the sensitive nerves and mouth tissue. But the DentalVibe device features a harmless two-pronged Smart Tip that gently vibrates the site of the injection as your dentist administers the injection. As a result, the injection signal is blocked, and you feel just the vibration. An added plus to the process of getting an injection via this device is that the vibration also helps spread the numbing solution throughout the injection site much more quickly and consistently.
Further evidence of a pain-free needle
Still not quite convinced? Let’s get a bit more in depth.
One of the particularly eye-opening studies the researchers behind DentalVibe cited was conducted by the US Air Force. In this study, a vibratory device very alike in design to DentalVibe (described as a “randomized block, split-mouth design”) was used in conjunction with injecting topical anesthetic on 20 participants. Each participant received two injections, with a five-minute window in between. One injection was administered the traditional way, without the vibratory device, and the other was administered with it.
Afterwards, the participants were invited to rate the pain they experienced after the injection. When the researchers compared the results, they saw that there was a significant decrease in the amount of pain felt when the vibratory device was used versus just applying anesthetic with a needle.
From this data, DentalVibe’s researchers learned how to optimize a device that would completely remove the pain from injections, making it possible to eliminate fear from dental appointments and procedures.
Recontextualizing dental visits
Dental hygiene is an important part of your overall health. When you’re going to improve your oral health and your smile all at once, you should have a comfortable and pleasant experience, not one that leaves you sore and anxious.
For years, dentists have grappled with the dilemma of having to hurt patients in order to help them get cavities filled or wisdom teeth removed. Removing the pain from dental injections essentially recontextualizes dental visits as positive experiences.
Now that dentists have a way to provide their patients with pain-free injections, they can help people just like you take better care of their oral health, improve their smiles, and avoid painful dental problems later in life. There’s no longer a reason to avoid necessary dental procedures due to a fear of needles.
Elective treatment is easier
Have you ever considered cosmetic treatments at your dentist, but were hesitant because of your fears of injections? You no longer have to worry about the pain that was once associated with dental injections for elective treatments, such as crowns or dental implants.
Many people find that when the injection pain is taken out of the equation, they become more confident about opting for treatments they need or may be interested in for cosmetic reasons. A lot of patients who have suffered from dental phobias have needlessly tolerated oral health issues that affect both their overall health and their self-esteem. They avoid fixing a broken tooth or a cavity that needed filling a long time ago, because of their intense fear of needles.
But now that the DentalVibe Comfort Injection System makes pain-free dentistry possible, there’s no reason to dread going to the dentist.
Find a DentalVibe dentist
Make dental fear a thing of the past and get the treatment you need to keep your teeth healthy. Find a dentist in your area who uses DentalVibe.
