Tell us once
Tick “I’m nervous” on the booking form or mention it on the phone. It goes on your file – you’ll never have to explain yourself twice, to anyone. Every person you meet already knows to go gently.
Nervous patients
Scared of the dentist? You’re our speciality.
Around a third of our patients arrived anxious – some hadn’t seen a dentist in a decade, a few in twenty years. Nobody here will ask why, comment on the gap, or deliver a lecture. This page tells you exactly what will happen, because for most nervous people the fear lives in the not-knowing.
Your first visit, step by step
This is the whole pathway – no hidden stages, no ambush. You can stop at any step for as long as you like. Some patients spend three visits on step two, and that is completely fine; the chair isn’t going anywhere.
“I cried in the car park before my first appointment. Eight months later I sat through a filling listening to a podcast. Genuinely didn’t think that was possible for me.”
Visit before you commit
Come in for a free 15-minute hello. Meet the team, see the rooms, have a cup of tea in the armchairs. You won’t sit in the dental chair unless you ask to – this visit is for your nervous system, not your teeth.
You set the pace
We agree a stop signal – raise your hand and everything stops, instantly, every time, no questions. Your appointments are booked 20% longer than standard so nothing is ever rushed, including you.
Small wins first
We start with the gentlest thing on your plan – often just a look and a polish – and build up from there at whatever speed suits you. Sedation is there for bigger treatment whenever you want it.
Noise-cancelling headphones
Weighted blankets on request
Quiet-hour appointments
IV sedation with Dr Whitfield
Sedation & comfort options
From “just go slowly” to fully sedated – your call
Most nervous patients never need sedation once they trust the stop signal. But it’s a menu, not a ladder – you don’t have to earn your way to the option you want, and choosing sedation isn’t a failure. Dr Whitfield, who holds a diploma in conscious sedation, leads all of it.
The gentle baseline – everyone gets this
Numbing gel on the gum before any injection, anaesthetic warmed to body temperature and given slowly (cold, fast anaesthetic is what stings), a running commentary if you want one and silence if you don’t.
It’s remarkable how much of “dental fear” is actually just fear of the injection – and how fixable that is with three minutes of patience.
Included with every appointment
Inhalation sedation – “happy air”
A soft nose-piece delivers a gentle mix of nitrous oxide and oxygen. Within a few breaths you feel warm, floaty and pleasantly indifferent to what’s happening – while staying awake and in full control of your stop signal.
It wears off within minutes of the mask coming off, so you can drive home and go back to work. Lovely for hygiene visits and fillings.
£95 per visit, on top of your treatment fee
IV sedation – deeply relaxed
For longer treatment or deeper anxiety. Dr Whitfield gives a sedative through a small cannula in your hand; you stay conscious and responsive, but profoundly relaxed – most patients remember almost nothing afterwards.
You’ll need a companion to take you home and a quiet day afterwards. We do a dedicated assessment visit first, so nothing about the day is unfamiliar.
£295 for the first hour · assessment visit £45
The comfort menu – ask for any of it
Noise-cancelling headphones with your own playlist or podcast. A weighted blanket. A ceiling screen playing nature documentaries. Quiet-hour appointments when the practice is at its calmest – first thing, or early afternoon.
Prefer to bring someone? They can sit in the room with you at any appointment. Plenty of adults do, and nobody thinks anything of it.
All free – just ask when you book
What you control
Raise your hand. We stop.
That’s the whole rule, and it has no small print. Not “we’ll just finish this bit”. Not “nearly done”. Hand up, everything stops, instantly, every single time – and it stays stopped until you say otherwise. Patients test it early on. Good. That’s exactly how trust gets built.
The paceBreak between every stage, pause for as long as you need, or split treatment over extra visits at no extra cost.
The informationA running commentary of what’s happening, or total silence and a tap on the shoulder when we’re done. Tell us which – you can change your mind mid-appointment.
The chairSitting more upright, a pillow under your knees, the door open or closed. Small things, big difference.
The companyBring a friend or partner into the room, or come alone – whichever steadies you. Children watching a calm parent cope is also powerful.
The planEvery option explained with exact prices, including “do nothing for now”. You decide at home, never in the chair.
The exitYou can leave at any point, mid-appointment included, and be welcomed back warmly whenever you’re ready. It has happened; the kettle went on.
Formerly nervous
People who sat where you’re sitting
Every one of these patients once read a page like this one and almost didn’t book.
“Nine years without a dentist because of one bad experience at school. Dr Whitfield spent my whole first appointment just talking. Three visits later I’d had two fillings without a single moment of panic. My file says ‘nervous’ and every person there acts on it.”
“Twenty-two years. I was so ashamed of my teeth I covered my mouth when I spoke. Nobody at Pearl Lane so much as raised an eyebrow. I had IV sedation for the big work and honestly remember about four minutes of it. I have my smile back – the actual, physical habit of smiling.”
“I tested the hand thing in my first filling – half to see if they meant it. Everything stopped, instantly. Elena took the instruments away, sat me up, and we chatted about her allotment until I was ready. After that I stopped needing to test it, which I suppose was the point.”
“It took me three hello visits before I sat in the chair. Nobody hurried me, nobody made me feel silly, and the receptionist remembered how I take my tea by visit two. My daughter watched me have a check-up last month and then hopped up for her own. That undid something twenty years old.”
The quiet questions
Things nervous patients ask us (usually in a small voice)
No. Not gently, not “just this once”, not disguised as concern. Lectures don’t work – they’re usually why people stopped coming in the first place. We look at where things are today, agree what matters most, and start there. You will never hear a sigh over your open mouth at this practice.
Yes – that’s exactly what the free 15-minute hello visit is. You meet the team, see the rooms, ask anything, and leave. No chair, no mirror, no examination, no charge, and no follow-up call pressuring you to book. Some people need one hello visit; one lovely patient needed three. Both are normal.
Raise your hand and everything stops – instantly, and for as long as you need. We’ll sit you up, take the instruments away, and wait. If you want to stop entirely for the day, we stop entirely for the day, and it costs you nothing extra to finish another time. Panic isn’t a problem to us; it’s information about pacing.
No – this is conscious sedation, not general anaesthetic. With “happy air” you’re awake, floaty and back to normal in minutes. With IV sedation you’re deeply relaxed and will likely remember very little, but you can still respond and still use your stop signal. Dr Whitfield assesses you properly beforehand and monitors you throughout – it’s calm, boring and safe, which is exactly how we like it.
With the form on our contact page – tick “I’m nervous”, choose the free hello visit, and write as much or as little as you like in the message box. Maria reads every one and replies within a working day, gently. You’re closer to the norm than you think: around a third of our new patients arrive after a five-year-plus gap, and several after twenty.
One small step
The hello visit is free, and the kettle is always on
Fifteen minutes, no chair, no examination, no obligation. Tick “I’m nervous” on the form and everything after that is planned around it.
Easier to type than talk? Message us on WhatsApp – Maria replies, not a robot.