Pub In The Park

Most people dread going to the dentist. This applies to those who have a severe phobia as well as those who would rather not submit to the discomfort caused by dental procedures .

A good way to divert attention from the discomfort or actual pain caused by dental work is to consider the various equipment needed to complete even a simple exam. It is possible to make a game out of trying to name as many individual instruments and pieces of equipment in a dentists office. It’s certainly a good way to spend the time when waiting in the scary looking dentist chair.

To take it a step farther, try figuring out how much each piece of equipment costs. Even second hand or discounted equipment isn’t cheap. Most dentists are forced to take out some form of dental equipment leasing in order to open their practice. Make an educated guess about the cost of equipment and then add an extra ten or fifteen percent for good measure. Divide that total by the cost of an office co-pay to figure out how many patients a dentist has to see in order to pay for that one piece of equipment.

Some dentists have adapted a form of this distraction to help them with their patients. Dentists working with children will turn a visit into a learning experience, teaching kids the names and functions of each machine. By engaging the kids directly they teach them to be respectful of the equipment, but they also remove a lot of the mystery behind the weird sounds and sensations associated with a dental visit. This keeps kids from dreading future visits.