London: Fancy watching a Bollywood movie on DVD goggles to reduce anxiety and reduce pain while your dentist goes to work on your teeth?

Amit Mohindra, 29, has introduced the novel concept at a dental clinic in Oxford.

The device incorporates a small screen and earphones on a compact headband, which has caught the imagination of his patients, who now bring along their favourite DVDs while going under the drill.

Anxiety was a common problem among patients, Mohindra said, adding finding ways to combat dental anxiety was one of the key areas he focussed on whole studying dentistry. Surveys showed that 60 per cent of people worry about going to the dentist and some people will put up with extreme pain before they eventually book an appointment.

"Getting patients to watch a DVD is ideal for the more lengthy procedures and it really helps to take their minds off the treatment. This is not a substitute for an anaesthetic - patients will still need an injection for pain control if they are having a filling - but it helps a great deal," he said.

"Patients can't see the drill, or hear what is happening, and watching the films allows them to relax - films like Finding Nemo or the underwater documentary Deep Blue Sea are particularly popular. I think patients find watching all the sea creatures go by particularly relaxing, but now they know about this, they are bringing in their own films and that is fine with us. Some men bring in goals compilations and one girl last week brought in a DVD of the film Hairspray starring John Travolta."

In December, Mohindra provided dentistry services to villagers in Rajasthan for Teeth for Life, a charity organisation that relies on volunteers to offer dental care to some of the world's most needy people.

Source : PTI