{"id":936,"date":"2019-04-16T15:31:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T15:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?p=936"},"modified":"2019-04-16T15:31:28","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T15:31:28","slug":"5-reasons-people-avoid-the-dentist-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/5-reasons-people-avoid-the-dentist-2\/","title":{"rendered":"5 REASONS PEOPLE AVOID THE DENTIST"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"246\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/6097629296_8978cbff33_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"941\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=941\" class=\"wp-image-941\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/6097629296_8978cbff33_n.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/6097629296_8978cbff33_n-300x231.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><figcaption>Kids from the area have their teeth checked out and cleaned during Free Dental Clinic DAy at 360 W 125th St in Manhattan  Sherard Weathers has second thoughts when the work begins   Original Filename: 6d800k0n.JPG<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>There are five\nmajor reasons that people do not get the necessary dental care they need. They\nare money, time, lack of concern, fear and trust. Let\u2019s take a quick look at\neach one and see if any of them fit you, or anyone you know. I\u2019ll also discuss\nwhat dentists often try to do to overcome these obstacles for patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although you\nmay think that money would be the number one reason people avoid ideal dental\ntreatment, it is not. Even in tougher economic times, money, although a\nsignificant barrier for many, is still not the number one issue for most. Yes,\ndental care in some cases can be a significant investment. With insurance\ncompanies unwilling to raise the bar, as I have talked about in numerous\ncolumns, patients often get stuck with large dental bills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately,\nas of now, we have to face these facts, and it does not mean avoiding the\ndentist. Many dentists offer payment plans through third party carriers, or within\ntheir offices so patients can pay for treatment over an extended period of\ntime. Ask your dentist if they have such an option. The point here is to get a\nplan. Once a plan is established, your dentist can work with you to prioritize\nand sequence your treatment. This way, if you need to spread your treatment\nover a period of time to make it affordable, you can pick away at a well\nthought out plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Time is an\nexcuse. We all use time as an excuse for many of the things in our lives we\nwant to avoid or procrastinate about. The reality is, however, if we place\nsomething high enough in our value system there is always time for it. In order\nto move something higher up in our value system, we must be educated and come\nto realize that this particular thing is of benefit to us. This brings us to\nthe most common reason people avoid ideal dental care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lack of\nconcern about dental health is prevalent with a huge percentage of the\npopulation for a few reasons. Absence of pain is one. Other than a toothache\nand need for a root canal, there few things that actually cause pain. For\nexample, take periodontal (gum) disease. About 75% of the population has some\nform of this disease, but only 50% of the population go to the dentist. Why? No\npain. This doesn\u2019t mean it is healthy and there are not potential problems down\nthe road, like loss of teeth or other medically-related problems. It is up to\nthe dentist to educate patients on these types of issues, but people have to\nactually go to the dentist to get this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some people have\nfear of going to the dentist\u2026.and for good reason, due to bad past experiences\nor bad information. However, dentistry today should be a comfortable experience\nmost of the time. For those who are still fearful, there are different\nmedications dentists can use to ease the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The last\nbarrier to ideal treatment is trust. For a patient to move forward with\ntreatment, it is essential the patient both likes and trusts the dentist.\nAlthough I am sure that the skills of your dentist are important to you, I am\nwilling to bet that you would not stay with a dentist who you did not like or\ntrust. Find someone you can connect with and build a strong doctor-patient\nrelationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If there are\nother reasons you avoid optimal dental care, e-mail me and I will be glad to\noffer some suggestions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. St. Clair\nmaintains a private dental practice in Rowley and Newburyport dedicated to\nhealth-centered family dentistry. If there are certain topics you would like to\nsee written about or questions you have please email them to him at <a href=\"mailto:jpstclair@stclairdmd.com\">jpstclair@stclairdmd.com<\/a>.\nYou can view all previously written columns at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\">www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are five major reasons that people do not get the necessary dental care they need. They are money, time, lack of concern, fear and trust. Let\u2019s take a quick look at each one and see if any of them fit you, or anyone you know. I\u2019ll also discuss what dentists often try to do to overcome these obstacles for patients. Although you may think that money would be the number one reason people avoid [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":942,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936\/revisions\/942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}