When it comes to going to the dentist, people have a large number of false ideas. This has been brought on by hundreds of media representations of crazy dentists who exist only to cause pain. Even without those movies and television shows, people often have an ingrained fear of the dentist. Sometimes these fears are even reasonable. After all, the mouth is a sensitive area.

If you’re a dentist trying to get new patients, you may wonder what fears to expect and how to ease them. Not only will doing so help you ease their concerns when they first make an appointment, but it will also keep them coming back. The following are common myths and fears people have about the dentist and what you can do to help ease those fears.

Fear: The Dentist Is Expensive

Due to insurance company shenanigans, many people don’t have dental care as part of their health insurance plan.

The insurance industry has worked incredibly hard over the years to make people think of dental care as something different from standard medical care even though the mouth is part of the body.

Since standard medical care can be so expensive, people rightly fear that dental care may be expensive, as well.

How To Fix: Pricing Charts and Discounts

The best way to ease fears about dental work being too expensive is to have pricing charts easily accessible to potential patients.

While every procedure is a little different, it’s easy enough to list out the standard price of common dental jobs. These can include things like teeth cleaning, tooth removal, cavity filling, and other such procedures.

If necessary, you can also list the standard cost modifiers. List out the cost of nitrous oxide and how much the standard patient needs. Do the same with novocaine.

In addition, you can offer discounts on simple procedures for repeat customers. If people know they’ll get their teeth cleaned for cheap, they’ll happily come back!

Fear: All Dental Work Hurts

The teeth and gums are areas of the mouth that can be quite sensitive. Everyone knows the pain of biting down on something a little too hard. So it’s understandable that people would be afraid of having sharp, noisy power tool brushing and scraping their teeth.

How To Fix: Simple Demonstrations

A large part of this fear involves not understanding how dental techniques work.

If at all possible, offer demonstrations of the tools you use. Show them how the tools brush against the teeth and gums and allow them to see that they shouldn’t cause any pain.

Naturally, some tools can’t be demonstrated. Other tools are going to hurt no matter what, such as the shot necessary to deliver the numbing agent. Even so, many people will have their fears calmed by this knowledge.

Fear: Procedures Take A Long Time

People don’t have a lot of time these days. The wealth disparity means the average person has to work twice as hard and three times as long to make a living wage. For that reason, many people presume they simply don’t have time for the dentist.

How To Fix: List Standard-Times

Much like listing out prices, if you list out the amount of time each procedure takes on average you’ll go a long way to soothing those fears.

As said above, every procedure is different. However, most standard dental work tends to take about the same amount of time on average.

As you can see, most people’s fears associated with the dentist or dental work are mostly based on a lack of knowledge. The best way to counter ignorance is to teach. So if you have new customers who don’t know what to expect, help them out. Not only will you help them feel better, but you’ll also be helping yourself retain patients!