Feeling stressed or fearful at the dentist, you may have been prone to it in the first place…
The chair.
Not just any chair. The one you sit in to do the one thing you have been taught you must always do: take care of your teeth!
Though a trip to the dentist can be fairly routine for most, even the coolest customer can experience a little stress out of sitting in the chair for any procedure.
Whether it’s just that it is an out-of-the-ordinary experience, reminds you of a previous, more-invasive one or is a downright, deep-seated-fear-based aversion, stress can become a significant factor when going too the dentist.
But is dentistry to blame?
While some procedures can be uncomfortable, there are other less obvious factors that go ignored, ones which fly below our radar, seemingly undetected.
And, while a procedure itself may be uncomfortable or reasonably-feared, your ability to deal with the situation at hand can be compromised by being prone to more stress.
In other words, prone to it in the first place, a stressful external environment can invade your internal one, all for the want of better defenses against it.
Defenseless, you seem doomed to internalize what you should be fending off. But are you really destined to such a harsh fate?
Understanding the internal body environment and how defenses against externally-invading stress is key to answering this question.
And, with proper knowledge of such, you can take a position of controlling, rather than temping, fate itself!
It’s not what the dental environment brings you so much as what you bring to the dental environment…
While we can search endlessly for “answers” to what causes fears, anxiety, uncomfortable feelings and what to do about them, it doesn’t take science to observe the obvious.
There are two obvious factors involved here: you and the dental environment.
And, just like any other human experience, you are faced with stresses in your environment you must face and control.
But, this is the key oversight. When we look to the environment, we are seldom “self-aware” but rather more “environmentally-aware” in nature.
Always looking at the obstacles we face, we tend to lose our sense self-awareness.
Imagine rollerblading as a very small child. With a low center of gravity, you were able to be quite adept at the activity.
Later, as you aged, you grew taller, weighed more and your center of gravity shifted upward. Then you attempt to do a stunt you were once able to do and you become injured where no injury even seemed possible before.
What happened?
Same environment. Same activity.
The difference is, you brought something different into the activity. Your shifted center of gravity has become a “weakness” that leaves you prone to injury.
In merely looking at the activity, and not being more self-aware than just being yourself, your estimate of the situation is off at the start. You are bringing something different into the same situation and expecting the same result. But what you get out of it causes travail and difficulty.
Stress is no different. Its invasion into the body via the “weakest points of defense” is what causes the “fate” of carrying stress physically and, in turn, even mentally and emotionally.
Often times, we bring “stress magnets” into the situations with us. It’s a little like wearing a “kick me” sign on your back someone attached without your knowledge and then wondering why everyone kicks you as you walk along your way, a classic lowering of self-awareness.
So what is it you might be doing that can cause you undue fear or stress at the dentist?
What might you be doing to cause your own stress and what can you do about it?
There are many factors, if you think about it, which can influence how you experience anything in life. A logical, rather than scientific look, once again, gives keen insight.
Consider this.
If you have had too much junk food, sugar or caffeine, you can expect a few symptoms such as being “on-edge” or jittery in demeanor. If your blood sugar drops from not having eaten, you can be a bit short-tempered. Should you be sleep-deprived, a whole host of difficulties in “dealing” can be your lot.
These are “weaknesses” which make you prone to undue influence of the external environment. It only really invades when defenses are weak or totally down.
Compare a day that you have to work with a headache to a day where you have had amazing sleep, are well-fed, hydrated and feeling amazing. You may be a trooper and get just as much work done either way but, which one feels and goes better for you?
Or, even better, which one would you pick to experience given a choice between the two?
No matter what fear, anxiety or stress the environment doles out, you dictate how much these factors influence you. And, while this alone may not solve the entirety of such stresses and fears, it can certainly have a sufficient influence upon them and even lessen them greatly.
What singular factor is often senior to all others when building defenses against stress?
While you may be guessing, based on previous writings, that the answer is calcium and magnesium, you are only partially correct. For while these minerals are perhaps the most important of their kind, the reason behind it is more the answer to your stress at the dentist (and in any other situation) than any other factor you can think of.
If you consider for a moment how many body processes one of these two top minerals is responsible for, you will get an idea of what their influence is on how you will experience anything in your environment.
Regulating functions such as blood pressure, blood sugar levels, relaxation, sleep cycles and numerous others, hundreds in fact, these minerals in deficiency can wreak havoc on the body but also break down processes the body uses to ward off stress.
If your sleep cycle isn’t sufficient, you will not rebuild tissue and restore energy. This is a major, yet very common weakness. If your muscles can’t relax, you will not only be perpetually tense, but not able to sleep sufficiently either.
Can you imagine having the tension of being chased by a lion all night long while trying to sleep? This only provides a shading of illustration for this concept.
You don’t need a degree in human anatomy to understand a little about body function and to deduce what will happen when those functions break down. In fact, you can experience this first-hand (and probably have done so)!
There may not be a “catch-all” for handling stress at the dentist, but you can make major inroads as follows…
Make a list of everything we talked about here and you have a checklist of the body functions that need to be supported in any way possible. From the sleep cycle to diet, from taking in toxins to simply understanding body function itself, there are a host of things that can be checked and checked off in support of a less stressful life.
Calcium and magnesium may be considered the “stress minerals” because of the body processes they support. The difference between getting them in ample supply and being deficient is literally the difference between a good and bad experience in almost every situation. Here is a good place to start when considering being less stressed at the dentist!
Instant CalMag-C is a supplement which is formulated, actually, with the adverse effects of deficiency in mind. It is a laser-precise combination which parallels the body’s natural need for and use of these two minerals.
Mixing instantly, this drinkable liquid absorbs almost as quickly as it is prepared. This allows for the body to put it to use to fulfill deficiencies rapidly and immediately.
The result? Well, the dental chair may never be the same if you have been a bit deficient and had a significant amount of stress in that situation.
No matter what is stressing you out, where deficiency has laid you open to environmental stress of any kind, Instant CalMag-C can help close the doors and retract the welcome mat, leaving you welcome to experience a better time of things.
Try it today and see what happens to your stress levels!