Pillar two
For people who have been avoiding the chair for years.
If the thought of a dental appointment makes your stomach turn, you are not being dramatic and you are not unusual. This page is written for you rather than for the person who books a cleaning every six months without thinking about it.
Nobody is rushed through this room.
First, the obvious thing
You are not going to be told off.
Most people who have stayed away for years expect a lecture. It does not happen here.
People avoid the dentist for ordinary human reasons. A bad experience as a child. A drill that started before the numbness did. A clinic where nobody explained anything. Or simply one missed appointment that turned into five years because the longer you leave it, the worse you assume it has become.
The gap is not the interesting part. What is happening in your mouth now is. The first appointment exists to find that out and to tell you the truth about it, which is almost always less frightening than the version you have been carrying around.
Why this clinic, for this
A dentist who also trained in counselling psychology.
Dr. Amaey A. Parekh holds a postgraduate qualification in counselling psychology alongside his MDS in prosthodontics.
That combination is rare, and the point of mentioning it is not the certificate. It is what it changes inside the room.
- The appointment is structured around what you can tolerate, not around a standard slot length
- Nothing goes into your mouth before you have been told what it is and what it will feel like
- A stop signal is agreed before anything starts, and it is honoured immediately
- Fear is treated as information about the patient, not as an inconvenience to work around
Plenty of clinics say they are gentle. What you are entitled to ask is what specifically they do differently. The four lines above are the answer here.
Dr. Amaey A. Parekh, in his own words. The video starts at the part about anxiety.
How an appointment actually goes
Five things that are true of every first visit here.
Written down so you can read them before you call, and hold us to them when you arrive.
You can book a conversation only
Come in, sit in the consulting chair rather than the treatment chair if you prefer, ask what you want to ask, and leave. No examination unless you ask for one.
You are told before you are touched
Every instrument is named, every sensation is described in advance. The surprise is what most people are actually afraid of.
You have a stop signal
Raise your hand and everything stops. Not at the end of this bit. Immediately. That is agreed before the first appointment starts.
You set the pace across visits
One quadrant at a time over six months is a completely acceptable plan. So is doing everything at once. Both get supported.
Numbness is checked, not assumed
We wait, then test, then wait longer if needed. Starting before the anaesthetic has worked is how most childhood dental fear gets made.
Bring someone with you
A spouse, a son, a friend in the room. Families have been coming here together for two generations. Nobody finds it strange.
What patients say
“They were so gentle I didn’t even realise it was over.”
The line patients use most often about this clinic, across two generations of the same families.
Start smaller than you think you have to.
You do not have to commit to treatment to find out where you stand. Send a message on WhatsApp instead of calling if a phone call feels like too much. Say as little as you like. Someone will answer like a person.
The fears, named
If one of these is yours, say so when you book.
Naming it in advance lets us plan around it. Every one of these is common.
- The sound of the drill
- Needles
- Gagging
- Not being able to breathe
- Being judged for the state of my teeth
- Not being able to stop it
- The cost turning out to be enormous
- Lying flat
- Being alone in the room
- Finding out something serious
- A bad experience as a child
- Losing control
Questions anxious patients ask
Asked quietly, answered plainly.
I have not been to a dentist in years. Will I be judged?
No. The gap is far more common than you think and it is not the interesting part of your examination. What is happening now is.
Can I come in just to talk, without any treatment?
Yes. Book a conversation. Look at the room, ask your questions, and leave. Nothing happens that day unless you ask for it.
What if I panic halfway through?
You agree a stop signal before treatment begins. You raise your hand, everything stops, and nothing continues until you say so. That is not a formality here.
Is sedation available?
Most anxious patients never need it once the appointment is paced properly. Where a case calls for more than that, we discuss the options and refer appropriately rather than selling you something you do not need.
Will you tell me everything that is wrong in one go?
Only if you want it that way. Some people want the whole picture immediately. Others want one thing at a time. Tell us which you are and that is how it will be delivered.
I am asking on behalf of my father who refuses to go.
This is a call we take often. Message us with what he is avoiding and we will suggest a first visit that is small enough for him to agree to. Sometimes that is simply him coming along while somebody else has a cleaning.
Talk to us first
Send us your problem before you send us a booking.
Tell us what is bothering you on WhatsApp. If you already have an X-ray or an OPG, send a photo of it. You will get an honest answer from a dentist, not a call centre, and you will know what you are walking into before you sit in the chair.