NEW YORK — Feeling bristled? Imagine how your teeth might feel, especially if you’ve been putting off your annual checkup. If you have, you’re likely far from alone. A new study finds that six in 10 American adults are too scared to visit the dentist.
Researchers at Hello Products, a dental care startup, polled 2,000 adults in the U.S. on their oral hygiene habits, which led to some more-than-toothless findings.
For instance, among the more stunning results, the survey showed that three in 10 millennials only brush their teeth once a day. Millennials also admit they’ve gone two or three days on average without brushing at all.
Yet, a convincing majority (56 percent) expressed fear or anxiety over losing their teeth, despite possessing slovenly dental habits.
“It’s crucial to take the right steps every day to maintain a healthy mouth,” reminds Craig Dubitsky, Hello Products’ founder. “This involves using effective oral care products, as well as being mindful of your daily habits.”
Going to the dentist was admittedly a phobia for most respondents — overall, 62% of adults surveyed said that they were too spooked to even visit a dentist’s office — but particularly among millennials, perhaps helping explain why their much-flaunted smiles appear to be at-risk. Millennials were more likely than those over 55 to create excuses to avoid regular dental checkups (56 percent to 36 percent, respectively).
“Going to the dentist has many advantages aside from ensuring you have pearly whites and bad breath prevention,” says California based dentist, Dr. Lawrence Fung, DDS, founder of Silicon Beach Dental. “Research has shown that there are many linkages to oral health and your overall health.
For what it’s worth, dentists were feared almost seven times as much as neurologists (9%), and more than twice as much as surgeons (26%). Fear of the dental chair was deep-rooted for many; the average respondent began to feel distressed by the age of 15, with many carrying feelings of unease before turning 10.
More stats: Three-tenths of those surveyed said they’d rather put in a full day at work than undergo a dental procedure, and a similar percentage said they would abstain from sex — for a month!
Two in 10 said they’d rather give a speech to a large crowd of people.
As for what tops of the list of dental visit phobias? Rounding out the top three were pain during treatment (74 percent), pain after treatment (47 percent), and the frightening noise of the dental drill (34 percent).
Negative past experiences (29 percent) and anesthesia-related fears (25 percent) were also common items of discomfort.
So how to make dental visits more comfortable? Do your research.
“While going to the dentist can be scary, some of the ways you can help alleviate those feelings is by seeking a dentist who truly places a high emphasis on creating a welcoming environment to make you feel comfortable,” says Fung. “When seeking a dentist, be sure to take a look at their bios and have an office tour to see if the place is welcoming.”
Put more bluntly, not brushing twice a day and skipping your biannual cleanings is sure to make you long in the tooth.
Not scared. . the worst pain I ever feel at the dentist is my pocketbook. YIKES!
Millenniais are gross. I floss and brush, am 57, and still have all of my teeth.
The good news is millennials are so fat and in such poor physical condition they will never live long enough for their teeth to fall out.
Over a decade ago I lost a filling in a molar. Went to a dentist recommended to my wife by a co-worker here in South Florida. The office was open cubicles (a row of dental chairs) with no more than five feet between patients. Assembly line style. The dental assistant was a nice, older man (he had been a dentist in Nicaragua). We conversed quietly in Spanish, I told him I need a filling replaced, he looked, nodded and said, “looks like it”. Then the blowhard dentist came in. Washed his hands, put gloves on and then went to shake my hand, His first question to me was, “what do you do for a living?” Not, what can I do for you, or what seems to be the problem. Warning Bells went off. He looked in my mouth, and in a very loud and dramatic voice said, “That is a cavern, you’ll need to have a crown, at least 4 points. Of course you’ll need root canal first”. This “professional” then stepped away and the dental assistant just shrugged. In two minutes, from over the back of the chair, the dentist handed me a clip board and said, “sign where the stickers are” What’s this? …”It’s the contract for me to fix your tooth”. The price at the bottom was an estimate from $5500.00 to $7200.00. I told him I was not signing it and I wanted a copy of his diagnosis and treatment plan, I had already paid the $120.00 co-pay fee for the consultation and examination so by law I was entitled to it. “WHY do you want that? You DON’T NEED that!”, he boomed. I told him I was going to fax it to my sister. “Who’s your sister?, he demanded. She’s a dentist out of state. “You mean a dental assistant.” No, she is a licensed dentist, a DDS – Doctor of Dental Surgery. “Where did she go to school?”, he demanded. Not answering his question,I asked him, where did he go to school? Indignantly, he replied, “I’m a graduate of the finest dental school in the Unites States, NYU School of Dentistry”. So is my sister, I replied. He freaked, demanded her name. I told him, He ran to his computer and searched the alumni pages. He was angry when he returned chair side and said, “yes, she is a dentist, but I have more experience than she does”. I said yes you do because you graduated before she did, but she has more training in the latest techniques.. He gave me the diagnosis and treatment plan and said as I left, “You’ll be back, because I’m the best”. I faxed it to her, she pulled my records, said to me to come for a visit. I flew to her town, had a nice visit and more importantly, she disagreed with his diagnosis and unnecessary, expensive treatment plan she replaced the missing filling and tooth has been fine ever since. No Root Canal, No Crown, No big bill. So don’t be afraid to get a second opinion, especially when the bill is so large.
IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RUNAWAY INFLATION!
IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RUNAWAY INFLATION!
IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RUNAWAY INFLATION!
…certainly nothing to do with JP Morgan’s investment division that loads caveats into million dollar, zero assets, zero credit history, ALL-YOU-NEED-IS-YOUR-DEGREE loans which STIPULATE that the doctor violating covenants LOSES ALL CONTROL ON POLICY so that revenues, paying the debt IS ALL THAT MATTERS!
Has NOTHING to do with wide-scale financial fraud.
I can see it now:
Dentist to millennial: “You have a cavity”.
Millennial to Dentist: “RACIST!!!!!”
Silly troll.
Millennials won’t even leave Mommy’s basement to get a job, let alone basic medical maintenance.
Why work when the job is a dead end? What is the point of wasting your life helping someone else get rich in theirs when you know YOU WILL NEVER HAVE ANYTHING EITHER WAY?
America is ruined. There is no opportunity anymore.
Your mommy is calling you to dinner loser.
If you ate less hotdogs you might have the energy required to get off the couch and leave your parent’s home Nathan.
That’s stupid
I doubt most American millennials could name a single country in which the Vietnam War was fought, let alone map out and maintain an adequate hygiene regimen.
You mean Indochina?
Sounds like you’re confusing the First Indochina War that took place before the N/S split. The Vietnam War is the correct designation for the American conflict. You’re good though – not enough millennials would know anything about it to make that mistake in the first place.
Vietnam was a french colony. Before that the entire peninsula was called Indochina.
You’ve got the wrong take on this. People aren’t afraid of dentists. They are afraid of the dentist’s bill. After spending $2500 on a root canal and still no fix, we went to Mexico. $24,000 worth of work done for $3000. After 6 months, perfect. If you are interested, we went to Los Algodones. Go to Yuma, walk across border. The dental place we went to was Sani Platinum Dental. Not even one complaint for a week’s worth of work and we tend to complain. Great hotel right in town and it’s only $60 a night.
I had done some research on that and it sounded very appealing. The only concern I had was that they’re not obligated to our laws and if they mess up, you’re SOOL.
We worried about that too and researched it so thoroughly we were almost confused. However, I put all the comments about different offices and dentist in a database and came up w/ Sani Platinum so we just decided it’s either go and get fixed or end up having dentures at some point. We were shocked at how thorough they were. You are taken in, given thorough exam & xray, then the admin. who is a dentist discusses what you need and what you may think you want. We wanted things fixed. They did not pressure us to have whitening or implants or extras. It’s like an assembly line sort of. My husband needed many root canals. I needed crowns replaced. Different specialists to do different procedures. Each dentist was very thorough. Husband was a mess because he never spent $$ on his teeth so he took up alot of their time but they would happily stay until 7 or 8 pm to finish him up each day. Always there was a car waiting to take us to the hotel even tho it was only 2 blocks. Saved so much, go more done than we ever would have here. No ocmmunication prob. Look Sani Platinum up online. It’s not a scam.
I read an article in the Reno newspaper two years ago about south of the border dentists. Actually, the ones they wrote about were across from Yuma – the same town as where you went, I assume. I did some research and found there were many dentists around the city. I did contact one and they were very courteous in their response. I was tempted to go, but my situation at the time wasn’t a very high priority (and fortunately still isn’t). I even went to the post office and got a passport specifically with that in mind. You do need a passport, right? From what I’d read, the costs are about 20-25% of what the costs of dentistry is in the U.S. Thanks for your comment. I’ll have to check Sani Platinum out.
Yes, you do need a passport…not to get into Mexico, but to come out. Actually, coming out was the only negative part of the entire week we spent there. Our US border guards were downright nasty. The Mexican people, not just the dentists, but all, were extremely nice no matter what we did or where we went. Also, if you go, make up a list of antibiotics and other medicines you have to buy here. We went to the Phoenix Pharmacy with our list. Got amoxicilin, sulfa, doxycyline, lots of other things super cheap. They have it all on computer and look it up if they don’t know what you’re talking about. Only thing we couldn’t buy was Cipro. We also went to the Purple Pharmacy eveyrone talks about but it is much more expensive (although cheap compared to here). We parked in the Indian Casino parking lot and walked over. It looked like lots of people drove over but the automobile line to get back to the USA was hours long. The walk took about 10 minutes.
When choosing a dentist, be sure to count how many staff employees they have. If the dentist’s staff has over two people, don’t use him/her otherwise you’re going to pay far more because a larger staff requires higher costs. Also, a small staff means you’re more likely to develop a good/honest working relationship with your dentist. A good dentist cares about your teeth rather than how much they plan to bilk you for.
The number of people on staff has absolutely nothing to do with costs. The only time a dentist hires more staff is to be able to treat more people. Anything else is foolish economics. Most dentist’s fees are determined by the insurance companies that have algorithms that tie the fees to the area in which the practice is located. I believe firmly that most of the increase in dental fees is due to dental insurance. Before dental insurance people paid cash for their treatments and were very cognizant of how much everything cost.
Did they poll female adult film actresses?
That’s absurd. A rotten mouth is guaranteed to the affect rest of your health. I go 3 times per year to dentist for cleaning and exams
Quit your crying and imagine your great great great grandpappy. Try have an extraction without anesthesia. Imagine a tooth abscess breaking out your check to relieve pressure and drain the puss. Thank God for modern medicine.
P.U.
good i hope theyre teeth rot and they starve
Millennials this and Millennials that. If they are too stupid to take care of their teeth let them fall out. Maybe they’ll be able to buy their dentures from Amazon.conjob
Yes, I am scared because ALL of the pain I have with my teeth are due to dentists drilling teeth that kinda-sorta looked like possible cavities (I regret agreeing to these meaningless tiny cavity fills). If a dentist sees anything dark or rough in your teeth they want to drill and fill it (regardless if the x-ray show nothing). Also, they really push teeth whitening. I think I would rather deal with a used car salesman over a dentist.
Does any one really care. Cell phones cost more..
Go to a teaching hospital tell them your poor ,they are very inexpensive and you might get in..
I broke two teeth. I decided on implants. I will be forking over about $10,000 before the procedure is complete. A friend owns a dental appliance lab. He makes the crowns, and teeth for implants. He sells them for a fraction of what the dentist charges you for them. I hate it, but I need to keep my teeth and gums healthy so dentists have always been a part of my life since childhood. I’m pushing 70 and have pretty good teeth for an old man. Dental insurance is a joke. Glad I have a rainy day fund to help.
4 out 10 Millennials pass gas over 20 times a day and pick their noses 10 times a day. Important news.