Dentist's Drill

     Alice: Hello, I'm Alice…

    Stephen: And I'm Stephen.…Alice: And this is 6 Minute English! This week we’re talking about a very commonphobia – a fear of the dentist – and a possible new treatment. But first of all,Stephen, how does this sound make you feel?

    Insert 1: Sound of a dentist’s drillStephen: Ouch! Oh, that sounds very painful.

    Alice: Oh, are you scared of going to the dentist?

    Stephen: Yeah, absolutely terrified.

    Alice: Oh - you poor thing. Well, as usual I’m going to ask you a question related totoday’s topic. Which of these is NOT a real phobia – a word that describes apersistent and sometimes irrational 1 fear? Are you ready?

    Stephen: Yes.

    Alice: OK…a) agoraphobia, b) arachnophobia, c) televiphobiaStephen: I’m going to take a guess on c, televiphobia.

    Alice: Well, I won’t tell you the answer now - but we’ll find out at the end of theprogramme. Now let’s find out about this new gadget 2 which might help peoplewho are scared of visiting the dentist – that’s dentaphobia by the way.

    Stephen: A fear of going to the dentist.

    Alice: Here’s Dentist Dr Andrew Parkman, describing how some patients feel whenthey come to sit in his consulting chair:

    Insert 2: Dr Andrew ParkmanWe kind of notice people as soon as the drill starts up. They can tense up, they mighttense their shoulders, they might tense their fingers. Certainly, you can see a tensioncome over them with that sound - that high-pitched noise.

    Alice: Dr Parkman says his patients tense up – the dentist can see a tension comeover them with that high-pitched sound of the drill. It puts them off going tothe dentist.

    Stephen: It puts them off – it discourages them from doing something.

    Alice: So let’s look at this new gadget which blocks out the sound of the drill. It’sjust a prototype at the moment.

    Stephen: A prototype is the first form of something which may go on to be manufactured.

    In this case, it’s a gadget the size of a mobile phone which can block out thesound of the dentist’s drill.

    Alice: Here’s Professor Brian Millar from King’s College London’s Dental Institute,telling us how the prototype works:

    Insert 2: Dr Andrew ParkmanIt listens to the sound - as it’s happening - of the dentist’s drill inside the patient’smouth, which as everybody knows is a horrible sound. So bad, in fact, that it actuallyputs some patients even off going to the dentist to seek important dental health care. So,we listen to the sound of the drill, we produce a cancelling signal which is reallyeffectively an opposite sound – and then we just knock it out with the filtering system.

    Alice: The gadget produces a cancelling signal, an opposite sound to knock out thesound of the drill. This means the patient can listen to music and can still hearthe voice of the dentist or dental nurse, but they won’t hear the high-pitchedsound of the drill.

    Stephen: It uses a sound filtering system. So are we hoping that these gadgets 3 will be inall dentist’s surgeries soon?

    Alice: Well, the team that developed them are still looking for a manufacturerto mass-produce the prototypes. So in the meantime, perhaps we needsome advice from the experts about how to deal with a phobia ofthe dentist. Here’s Dr Kathy Sykes with some advice about how tokeep calm when you’re feeling anxious:

    Insert 4: Dr Kathy SykesIt’s worth trying to work out what your own response is. So for instance, remember thelast time you had an anxiety problem – and think about what your body did. You know,did you feel hot? Did you find your hands beginning to clench 4? And then the next timeyou find your hands clenching 5 – or find, you know, whatever symptom it was youspotted, try to do something to calm down. Taking a few moments outside for some freshair to clear your head - or maybe just listening to a bit of music. Whatever you thinkcalms you down. Try to do that.

    Alice: Dr Kathy Sykes says that if you can spot the symptoms when you feel anxious– worried – you can help yourself to try to calm down.

    Stephen: The symptoms are how your body shows the anxiety. Do you feel hot? Do youclench up your hands into little balls?

    Alice: She suggests you listen to music or go outside for some fresh air when you feelthese symptoms. Now, before we go let’s answer our question. We heard acouple of terms used to describe phobias. But I made one of them up, Stephen.

    Did you guess which?

    Stephen: Let me see. You said 'agoraphobia' – I think that’s a real phobia – it’s a fear ofgoing outsideAlice: Correct. And 'arachnophobia'?

    Stephen: Oh, that’s a very common phobia. A fear of spiders, I believe?

    Alice: Well done!

    Stephen: So I’m guessing 'televiphobia' was the odd one out.

    Alice: You’re right. And your prize, Stephen, is to read some of the words andphrases that we’ve used in today’s programme!

    Stephen: phobiapersistent irrational patients tense up it puts them off prototype gadget cancelling signal drillanxious symptomsAlice: Well, we hope you’ve had fun with us today on 6 Minute English - and thatyou’ll join us again next time.

    Both: Bye.