Hypnosis in dentistry - how I became entranced

As a student, after days of learning of nothing but cavo-surface angles and the sacrosanct biological width, I found myself desperately trying to engage with subjects outside of dentistry. A topic that captured my interest and imagination was hypnosis. Originally, like most of the population, my interest was sparked by the various television personalities  who purport to use hypnotism in their acts. As the son of a psychiatrist, I was thrilled to find one of my father's hypnosis audio tapes that had been produced for his patients. As I listened to his voice, I thought that I might be able to produce a similar effect for my patients in dentistry. So, at the latter end of my fifth and final year, resolved in my new interest, I set about learning this perceived dark art with gusto. With dental finals and the introduction to graduate year out of the way, I qualified as a hypnotherapist as well. I now regularly use hypnosis for treating my patients, and I feel that with the improved patient management that hypnosis brings; my dentistry skills have had room to improve and flourish too.

I am often asked by patients and colleagues alike, "What is hypnosis?" This isn't the easiest of questions to answer, but before I explain, perhaps it would be helpful to provide a whistle-stop tour of hypnosis through recent history. I specify recent history because hypnosis in one shape or form has been around for thousands of years. Many religions and traditions incorporate a trance state into their ceremonies and worship rituals. It is important to remember that hypnosis is a term coined by an 18th century Scottish surgeon called James Braid, based on the Greek God of sleep- 'Hypnos.' Hypnosis was used by Braid to treat his patients and he gave many public lectures describing the techniques' uses and benefits. He was disliked by the clergy who saw him as a promoter of satanic practises. Almost two hundred years on and there are still those who hold this view. As far as the previously posed question regarding the nature of what hypnosis actually is, hypnosis was described by Braid as a kind of controlled dreaming. I prefer to view hypnosis as a kind of controlled fantasy, with patients being asked to actively imagine a reality created in collaboration with themselves and the hypnotist combined with techniques to promote a relaxed body state. This is based upon the concept that an anxious mind cannot exist within a relaxed body. By encouraging patients to un-tense their muscles, this physical relaxation will promote the dissipation of anxious feelings.

Hypnosis has allowed me to treat and help patients who otherwise would have had to seek treatment from more specialist services. Anxiety is one of the biggest issues in dentistry and being able to deal with this makes for a more pleasant treatment experience for both dentist and patient. Some of my patients who I have treated with hypnosis have medical histories that would have made sedation or general anaesthetic dangerous or impossible, so to have solved their barriers to treatment non-chemically is very rewarding and beneficial for them.

One of the largest barriers to acceptance of hypnosis in the dental profession is the perceived large requirements in clinical time to employ this technique successfully. Hypnosis does however, come in many different forms. It is very feasible to use a five minute progressive muscle relaxation technique to get patients out of a state of anxiety. Some might even argue that five minutes is excessive, but if it is a choice between spending 5 minutes talking a patient down from  the ceiling and the use of a five minute relaxation exercise, then I know which would be more preferable to most clinicians. The vocal patterns that are used in hypnosis, as well as the hypnotic language used in trance, are also easily incorporated into routine practise. These simple techniques are not hard for clinicians to learn and after practise, they come very naturally. Despite my relative inexperience, I felt passionately enough about the use of hypnosis in dentistry to set up a company to offer CPD and training in hypnosis for the dental team; www.hypnodontology.com is a platform where I promote the use of hypnosis in dentistry as I feel that it is such a useful tool in managing patients' fears and anxieties.

Hypnosis centres very much on the importance of building rapport and empathy. These skills are not just useful when treating patients, but they can improve other relationships within the workplace, helping colleagues to build understanding of each other's professional needs and helping them to view the world through a different pair of eyes. I hope that I might encourage the use of this fantastic technique, as anything that makes our service better for patients, has to be a positive thing. 

Mr Alexander CL Holden 
BDS HPD DipNLP D.Hyp GQHP
Dental Surgeon

http://www.hypnodontology.com/