Going to the dentist…
It probably doesn’t rank very highly on anyone’s list of pleasurable activities.
In fact, for many people it fills them with dread.
But where does the fear or anxiety they feel come from?
It could be that they had a traumatic experience or were influenced by the tales and stories of others.
Perhaps the idea of having someone putting their hands, electric drills and foot-long hypodermic needles in their mouth is simply impossible to deal with.
That’s where dental hypnosis can be of such enormous value.
You may be surprised to hear about hypnosis being used as part of a dental procedure, but the practice is catching on.
The truth is that hypnosis has long been used to help people manage their fears and anxieties.
It’s one of the quickest and least invasive techniques to get rid of phobias of any description.
The very nature of a hypnotic induction is to encourage relaxation, after all, and you can’t be anxious and relaxed at the same time.
In another sense it seems perfectly natural for hypnosis to find its way into dentistry.
Hypnosis has been proven to be an effective method of pain control in any number of situations, including dental treatment and dental surgery.
So what exactly is dental hypnosis and how does it work?
What Is Dental Hypnosis?
Dental Hypnosis, also known as Hypnodontics, has one real main purpose: to help patients take control of their own minds and bodies in order to make their treatment more bearable and pleasant.
Of course, dental hypnosis merely refers to the use of hypnosis as a complementary therapy during dentistry work. It is still just hypnosis, but used specifically during dental treatment.
Like all other forms of therapeutic hypnosis, it’s based around the use of language.
You may be aware that just thinking about an unpleasant situation can evoke the same feelings that you would experience if you were actually in that situation.
This is because your imagination is so powerful it can conjure things out of thin air.
Things like fear or apprehension or anxiety.
And if it can conjure up negative things without those things actually being present, it can also just as easily conjure up positive things.
Here’s another way to look at it. Suppose someone said to you, try not to think about a polar bear.
What happens? The image of a polar bear pops into your mind. And as hard as you try, you can’t stop thinking about it.
That’s an example of the power of language and the power of suggestion bringing an image into your mind.
And where dental hypnosis is concerned, it works with other areas of your perception besides images.
What Is Dental Hypnosis Used For & Why?
A lot of people are afraid to go to the dentist. For some of them, the thought of the dentist drilling into their mouth is enough to put them off.
For others, the notion of getting an injection in their gums is almost too much to deal with.
In both of these cases the prospective patient is experiencing a reaction to the thought of what might happen.
Their fear is founded on pictures created in their imagination that have little to do with what may actually occur.
On top of that, there are other types of responses that can get in the way of dental treatment, such as:
- Gagging
- Tongue defense
- Pain
Dental hypnosis is designed to improve communication between the dentist and the patient.
Its aim is to help patients overcome their fears and anxieties by replacing any negative associations with positive ones.
When patients are able to remain calm and cooperative, it becomes easier for the dentist to do whatever work is required in a more relaxed and less anxious atmosphere.
This helps patients build their confidence in the dentist and makes it more likely that they will maintain a regular schedule of visits.
Working With Dentists
Although known to be highly effective, dental hypnosis is not widely used within the dentistry profession as of yet. That means there’s probably a chance that your hypnosis skills will be in great demand in the near future.
The question is, how do you go about working with a dentist? Here are 10 top tips on how to launch your dental hypnosis career.
1. Make sure your skills are solid before you approach a dentist and ask to work with them.
2. If you feel confident in your abilities, start looking for a dentist with whom you can work.
3. To begin with, offer to do two or three test sessions with patients at no charge to demonstrate your skills and to convince the dentist of your value.
4. Dentists tend to be kinesthetic or visual in their representational systems, rather than auditory. When you speak to them, try to use phrases such as “how do you feel about this” rather than “what do you think about this.”
5. Remember that these are the dentist’s patients, not yours, and everything you do needs to be approved by the dentist. The dentist has the legal responsibility for what happens to the patient while in their care, so you need to respect that.
6. Working on site in a dental clinic will probably be less than ideal compared to your normal working conditions. You can expect there to be lots of noise, distractions and interruptions, so be prepared to work around all of those things. Street Hypnosis provides the perfect training for working with people in busy and distractive environments.
7. You will be required to write details of your interaction with the client on their dental chart. In most cases you will only have a few lines, so it’s important to be brief and to the point. Here’s an example of what you could write:
“Patient complained of ….. issue. I induced trance and used a 10 to 1 relaxing deepener and metaphor of a pond. I expect …. to happen and will see patient again in two weeks.”
8. Never tell a dentist that you have 100% success rate because you will lose all credibility. Even death doesn’t have a 100% success rate because people can be brought back using CPR.
9. When you speak to the dentist, it’s a good idea to explain briefly that you have protocols in place for doing pain control, anxiety and behavioral issues with their patients.
10. Remember that you are part of a team and that you have a specific role to perform. You don’t have to do everything because the other people are also highly trained professionals and qualified to do what they do.
Working With Dental Patients
As a practitioner of dental hypnosis, what kinds of things can you expect to be doing? Dentists are generally efficient at dealing with pain, using the anesthetic Lidocaine and providing other pain medication as necessary.
That means you might not need to do very much pain control. Instead, you’ll probably be required to provide services such as:
- Relieving dental fear and anxiety
- Calming TMJD (Temporal Mandibular Joint Dysfunction)
- Behavioral issues such as bruxism, which includes clenching the jaw and grinding the teeth
- Pain relief following dental procedures, dental surgery or where patients cannot tolerate pain medication
- Relaxing patients’ gag reflex, especially if it has been conditioned to be too far forward in their mouth
When working with bruxism or TMJD, it’s a good idea to keep this phrase in your arsenal as part of your hypnotic blitz. The phrase is known as “proper dental posture” and goes like this:
“Lips together, teeth apart, jaw relaxed.”
Here is an example of how to manage your first three sessions.
Session One
Do your usual client intake as you would with any other hypnosis session. Focus on the idea of behavioral change and of installing the proper dental posture as explained above.
You should also find out where they’re at in terms of bruxism and TJMD, which you can do by asking questions such as:
- Are they having neck pain or headaches?
- Are their jaws tense or aching?
Find something to calibrate so that you can gauge the effectiveness of your intervention over time. Make sure you stick to the protocol you outlined to the dentist when they agreed to work with you.
Session Two
Start by debriefing the patient with regard to your first session. What changes have they noticed? Is there anything they feel unhappy about?
During this session you’ll want to look at anger, stress, anxiety and what’s going on emotionally in the patient’s life. You may have picked up on some indicators during the first intake session.
If you spotted grinding of the teeth, there may be several reasons for this:
- Thegosis – this is a primal behavior, grinding the teeth to sharpen them so you’re better at biting people, which is why babies grind their teeth. A build up of anger can result in this behavior.
- Bruxism – this can happen if a crown or filling is too high and the body is trying to normalize it, in which case the dentist can sand it down. It can also manifest if a retainer is put in the mouth to keep teeth apart.
In this session you’ll need to find out if the patient’s behavior is emotional or mechanical.
If it’s emotional, try to use a technique that will allow the emotion to let go without belittling the patient. One example might be a forgiveness session, which could run as follows:
“Look, this was something you did until you came up with a better way. You used training wheels on your bike until you didn’t need them. You crawled until you walked. You cried until you talked and this is the thing you did until you found a better way, and now we’re going to find a better way for you to be more relaxed and more comfortable, healthier and all those things.” Then dress it up with a metaphor to drive the point home.
If your session doesn’t completely deal with the bruxism issue speak to your dentist about the possibility of further sessions. It’s still the dentist’s patient so you need permission before taking things to the next stage.
Once you’re able to educate the dentist on the benefits of extra sessions, it’s likely that they’ll consent. If they don’t, just leave it. And don’t be tempted to lure patients away from the dentists to deal with privately because that will simply mean you will not get any more work from them.
>> If you’re interested in hypnotherapy or want to improve your practice, check out our live and online hypnosis training events.
Want to know more about hypnotherapy, but not sure what certification program is the right choice for you? Book a DISCOVERY CALL today to learn more about Hypnosis Training Academy’s hypnotherapy programs.
Session Three
This is what you might call a cleanup session. The idea is to deal with any triggers for their behavior that you may have missed.
Next, you need to “seal the deal” with more hypnotic conditioning using a hypnotic blitz. That should mark the end of your work with the patient.
Here are some general notes on techniques you might want to employ.
Working with gag reflex – this happens when the epiglottis thinks something is likely to go down your esophagus or trachea and into your lungs. You choke, cough and gag to bring it back up. If the sensation’s been conditioned forward to the mid-tongue area it can make dental work extremely difficult.
Things you can do include:
Dissociation – in real time as the dentist is working, you might say: “Look, are you left or right-handed?” They say right-handed. You say: “Great, then what you’re going to have to do is lift your left foot and your right hand up two inches during the procedure, and as long as you’re lifting your left foot and right hand two or three inches, you’ll be absolutely fine.”
Oral conditioning – tell the person that you and they are going to recondition the reflex. Say something like this: “Look, this was conditioned forward a half millimeter at a time. You and I are going to condition it back half a millimeter at a time at the speed of thought using hypnosis.”
“Okay, I want you to imagine how far they can touch right now. Go to success not to the gag. Where the gag would be, go a millimeter forward from that so it’s okay. Great, now just imagine touching there and it being okay. Now I want you to imagine a tenth of a millimeter back from that and that being okay… and so on and so on.”
EFT – if you’re an EFT practitioner (Emotional Freedom Technique), you can use this technique effectively with the gag reflex as well.
When the issue is fear or anxiety about going to the dentist, you can use reframing with positive resources in your reframe.
When a patient is unable to tolerate pain medications, you may need to do post dental pain relief, so make sure you have an effective hypnotic pain control protocol under your belt.
You might consider creating pain control audio tapes that can be played to the patient during dental procedures or surgery, as these have been shown to be successful at reducing the need for anesthesia.
Finally, you can help patients practice good dental care at home through hypnotic suggestions made during your sessions, encouraging them to brush teeth regularly, floss daily, use mouthwash, and so on.
Main Takeaways
Dental hypnosis is also known as hypnodontics.
It refers to the use of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool to help dental patients stay calm and relaxed so that they can benefit from regular dental treatment.
Dental hypnosis can help patients overcome their fear and anxiety about visiting the dentist and help them undergo treatment without panicking.
The technique can be used to alleviate common issues such as gagging, tongue defense and pain, as well as combatting bruxism.
Approach dentists when you are confident of your skills and offer to do some free sessions to show them how valuable your services can be.
You should always remember that the patients belong to the dentist and you need to respect their wishes.
Dental hypnosis employs all of the techniques that you would use in any other form of hypnosis, including suggestion, dissociation, conditioning, hypnotic blitz, and so on.
The atmosphere in a dental practice can be very busy, noisy and full of distractions, so you should be prepared to work around these things.
>> If you’re interested in hypnotherapy or want to improve your practice, check out our live and online hypnosis training events.
Want to know more about hypnotherapy, but not sure what certification program is the right choice for you? Book a DISCOVERY CALL today to learn more about Hypnosis Training Academy’s hypnotherapy programs.