Nervous patients
If the dentist makes you anxious, tell us before you arrive. It changes how we book the appointment and how we run it.
- NHS and private
- Same-day emergencies
- Published fees
- One team, three practices
Say it when you book
The single most useful thing you can do is tell reception when you book, not when you are in the chair. It lets us give you a longer slot, choose a quieter time of day, and start the appointment knowing rather than guessing.
Read more: Say it when you book
You do not need to explain why, or justify it, or apologise for it. A significant number of the people we see are anxious about it, including people who have not been for years.
How we run the appointment
We narrate every step before it happens, so nothing starts without you knowing what it is. We never begin work you have not agreed to. And we stop whenever you raise a hand, which we agree as a signal before we start.
Read more: How we run the appointment
If you would rather the first visit was only a conversation, with no examination at all, that is a legitimate appointment to book. Plenty of people come back for treatment afterwards precisely because the first visit involved none.
If it has been years
People often stay away because they expect to be told off. We are not going to. We are interested in what to do next, not in what happened in the intervening time, and the reception team hears this every week.
Read more: If it has been years
A long absence usually means more to do rather than something unfixable. We phase it, starting with whatever is causing trouble, and we write the plan down so you can see the end of it rather than an open-ended commitment.
What we can do about cost anxiety
For some people the worry is the bill rather than the drill. Every private plan is written and itemised before treatment starts, and the quote is held for thirty days, so there is nothing to decide on the spot.
Treatment can be phased over months, a more economical alternative proposed, or NHS routes used where you are eligible. Sedation for anxious adult patients is a private option and not something the NHS contract covers.
Start with a phone call, not an appointment
Ring 020 8804 4320 and say you are nervous. That one sentence changes the booking: a longer slot, a quieter time of day, and a note on your record so the clinician knows before you sit down rather than finding out mid-appointment.
Read more: Start with a phone call, not an appointment
If speaking on the phone is itself difficult, email info@enfieldsmiles.co.uk instead. Write as much or as little as you want to. Nobody will press you to explain why.
What we do differently in the room
We agree a stop signal before anything begins, normally raising your left hand, and we honour it immediately every time. Having genuine control is what separates a manageable appointment from an unbearable one.
Read more: What we do differently in the room
We describe each step before it happens, keep instruments out of your eyeline where we can, and check in as we go rather than working in silence. If you would rather not see anything, say so and we will keep it that way.
The first visit can be nothing at all
Booking a visit where you sit in the chair, talk it through and leave without an examination is legitimate and we do it regularly. It sounds like a wasted appointment. It usually is not, because the second one is far easier.
Read more: The first visit can be nothing at all
If you would rather bring someone with you, do. If you want to keep your headphones in, keep them in. These are not concessions we grant, they are just how the appointment can run.
The specific fears, answered
Fear of needles: topical numbing gel goes on first, and the injection is given slowly, which is what makes most of the difference. Fear of the drill sound: headphones help, and so does knowing that a check-up involves no drill at all.
Read more: The specific fears, answered
Fear of gagging: an upright position, breathing through your nose and shorter working periods all reduce it, and we can adapt how X-rays are taken. Fear of judgement: it does not happen here. Where sedation is the right answer for an adult, it is available privately and we would explain what it involves before booking anything.
Practices Offering Nervous patients
Nuffield Dental Practice
110–111 The StowHarlowEssex CM20 3AS01279 424 038Church Langley Dental
First Floor, Florence Nightingale Health CentreHarlowEssex CM17 9TE01279 306 690Enfield Smiles
195 High StreetEnfield EN3 4DZ020 8804 4320