Fear of making a doctor's appointment

[x0xLikeMex0x]

I haven't been to a dentist for almost 3 years now and I'm afraid to make an appointment. Part of me is afraid that I don't have enough money for it, another part is afraid that my teeth are broken. Also I need to get rid of my wisdom teeth, because they are messing up the lower row of my teeth and from what my dentist said last time I went there, I need a surgery for that. Yet another reason is that I moved to another city 2 years ago and I don't know which dentist should I choose. I'm afraid of needles and the doctor yelling at me.


I know the longer I postpone it, the worse my teeth would get, but I can't seem to push myself to the point where I actually make an appointment.


Do you have a fear of making a doctor's appointment? What are your reasons? 


Or have you overcome that fear? How? 

 

[explorerX7]

I dont know if it's a fear of going to to the doctor but I find that I am always reluctant to visit the doctor and if there is a problem I will delay until the problem is really a great bother before I would attend and it seems to be a habit which I am unable to break out of.

 

[kelden]

I got my wisdom teeth removed, and I shall say I haven't felt better in the past that right nowadays. You will barely feel anything; since the anesthesia will numb all your mouth nerves and the removal surgery didn't take too much time. Of course, you'll need a proper respite for at least two week, but you will feel like new.

 

[Zeesi]

The dentist.  Ugh.


I feel your pain, but you have to go.  You have to.


As a grown woman, I have learned to overcome my fear by medicating myself prior to going to the dentist. By the time the dentist gives me any type of shot to numb my mouth, I already have at least 2 pain pills (among other legal stuff) in my system.  


Please don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying that this is what other people should do, but this is what works for me, and I won't go to the dentist unless I medicate myself first, I just won't.  For my root canals, and wisdom teeth being pulled, I paid for laughing gas to be given to me before any dental work started.  It works.


My "fear" of going to the dentist is so real that I did not even take my son to the dentist for the first time until he was 15 years old.  You read right, my son had never been to a dentist until he turned fifteen.  No cavities, thank goodness.


I was pretty much traumatized in regard to dentists when I was a little girl.  My dentist was perfectly nice, but those tools that he used on my mouth were another thing entirely.  


I once had avoided the dentist for 10 years, and was told during my first visit in 10 years that I had 10 cavities to show for it. Don't worry, the dentist told me, we'll fill 5 today, and you can come back and we'll do the other 5.  Once I was in the chair, he filled all 10 because he told me he knew I wouldn't come back.

 

[DylanRowan]

I got my wisdom teeth removed, and I shall say I haven't felt better in the past that right nowadays. You will barely feel anything; since the anesthesia will numb all your mouth nerves and the removal surgery didn't take too much time. Of course, you'll need a proper respite for at least two week, but you will feel like new.

Heyy, I also got my wisdom teeth extracted! High five! My dentist was insanely fast with the extraction. I think he took more time explaining everything rather than the actual procedure. I am feeling a lot better than I did yesterday. Friday was the day of the extraction, and the rest of the day was pretty bad. Saturday wasn't that bad, but it still hurted. It was until today that I started to feel a lot better. Thankfully, I am able to eat normally- 

 

[sidney]

I had a wisdom teeth extraction as well and it never hurt at all, before and after the operation. Right now I need to see a dentist again since my other wisdom tooth is having some issues, but I'm delaying it since I don't want to spend money at this point for it, haha. I never feared making a doctor's appointment, what I fear is spending money on it, lol.

 

[fuzyon]

I am anxious whenever I go to the doctor, right now I'm "evading" a dentist appointment simply because I can't bring myself to go. I've already been two times already and I know the process is not painful but I'm still dreading it. Deep down it's just an irrational fear.

 

[kgord]

I had my wisdom teeth extracted years ago. It wasn't a big deal really. It is a little weird at first because you have some small holes in your gums, but everything fills in and it isn't a problem. Your teeth will continue to hurt if you don't do something about it. I need a gynecological exam and I have been putting that off, because it is not fun, and I don't want to hear what is said anyway. I guess I will psyche myself up for it one of these days.

 

[Alex]

I hate making any appointments and I have to psych myself up to do it. That's why online can be easier, but ringing is such a pain as I hate being put on hold and calling any how. If I have to, I would rather go in person to make the appointment and only if there is no choice. I often will put things off and because I don't need to go, I am more conscious about staying healthy.


I make appointments for my dad and that's equally daunting having to deal with a surgery, but because he isn't well I'm okay with it and know I must do it and get an appointment with his preferred doctor.

 

[DDNatureLover]

It depends for me which doctor I'm going to. I have a pain doctor I visit once or twice a year, which is still a stretch on my budget. I don't particularly get anxious going to his office. I do have to take a pee test when I go, so he can ensure that I'm not on street drugs or pain medication prescribed from another doctor, since those are against our contract. That's typical here, each client/patient has to sign a contract stating s/he won't get those types of medications from more than one doctor. That doesn't bother me at all, since I know I'm not in violation. The financials do concern me though, particularly when I'm seeing a different sort of doctor. I still have overdue medical bills from the last surgery and ER visit, so I won't be going to another appointment for a while. 

 

[janemariesayed]

My wisdom teeth are still in my mouth so I will remain wiser than those who have them extracted. Luckily my teeth are healthy and always feel good. I can relate to your problem of going to the doctor, though. I refuse to believe there is such a thing as sickness, there is only health. My dear Mother is always going on about this problem or that problem with her health that I wonder sometimes if she is not talking herself into being sick. If I can avoid the doctor, I do as I find it so unbearable to be around sickness.

 

[lexinonomous]

I have a major fear of making a doctor's appointment. Not only am I afraid of going to the doctor, but I have little to no experience making my own appointments. My mother never taught me how to make a doctor's appointment and where to begin. Although I am aware of how to make an appointment now, it's still very hard for me to pick up a phone and call. I have a fear of making a mistake and sounding stupid on the phone. I fear someone laughing at me because I am twenty five years old and should not be ignorant to these things.


Visiting the doctor makes me cringe. When they take you out of the waiting room and allow you to wait in the doctor's office, I tend to freak out. Waiting in a small space without any human contact gives me the creeps.

 

[x0xLikeMex0x]

I have a major fear of making a doctor's appointment. Not only am I afraid of going to the doctor, but I have little to no experience making my own appointments. My mother never taught me how to make a doctor's appointment and where to begin. Although I am aware of how to make an appointment now, it's still very hard for me to pick up a phone and call. I have a fear of making a mistake and sounding stupid on the phone. I fear someone laughing at me because I am twenty five years old and should not be ignorant to these things.


Visiting the doctor makes me cringe. When they take you out of the waiting room and allow you to wait in the doctor's office, I tend to freak out. Waiting in a small space without any human contact gives me the creeps.

I've had to make a few appointments so far. I think around 4-5 times. I've mostly been lucky to get the appointment time online. 


I have 2 doctors that I have to revisit, but I can't get an appointment when I somehow can't bring myself to a point to actually dial the phone. I have to go back to otorhinolaryngologist and orthopaedist. I called once to get a second appointment with my orthopaedist, but I couldn't reach the hospital. That hospital has a weird system that on the 1st day of every month, new times for appointments come out and I happened to call just 5 minutes before those came out. So the lady told me to call in 5 minutes, but by then the line was extremely busy. 


I kind of got used to doctor's 2 years ago in summer, when I was having problems with my knee and sat home on sick leave for 2 months. I had to face my fear of needles, since in ER they pulled some blood out of my knee and later another doctor performed a surgery on my knee. I don't know what was wrong with my leg to this day and it sometimes still hurts. 


Since I had to face my fear of needles that summer, I'm not as afraid of needles anymore, but I'm still scared of them. I don't cry anymore when I know that there's a needle going into my body.

 

[x0xLikeMex0x]

The dentist.  Ugh.


I feel your pain, but you have to go.  You have to.


As a grown woman, I have learned to overcome my fear by medicating myself prior to going to the dentist. By the time the dentist gives me any type of shot to numb my mouth, I already have at least 2 pain pills (among other legal stuff) in my system.  


Please don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying that this is what other people should do, but this is what works for me, and I won't go to the dentist unless I medicate myself first, I just won't.  For my root canals, and wisdom teeth being pulled, I paid for laughing gas to be given to me before any dental work started.  It works.


My "fear" of going to the dentist is so real that I did not even take my son to the dentist for the first time until he was 15 years old.  You read right, my son had never been to a dentist until he turned fifteen.  No cavities, thank goodness.


I was pretty much traumatized in regard to dentists when I was a little girl.  My dentist was perfectly nice, but those tools that he used on my mouth were another thing entirely.  


I once had avoided the dentist for 10 years, and was told during my first visit in 10 years that I had 10 cavities to show for it. Don't worry, the dentist told me, we'll fill 5 today, and you can come back and we'll do the other 5.  Once I was in the chair, he filled all 10 because he told me he knew I wouldn't come back.

Maybe my fear of making an appointment to a dentist comes from the fact that I have to pay for it now. In my country people upto 18 years old get dentalcare for free. I can't say that I'm afraid of going to a dentist itself, but hearing everybody say that it's super expensive scares me, because I'm a working student and my income isn't exactly a bool of money.

 

[Zeesi]

Maybe my fear of making an appointment to a dentist comes from the fact that I have to pay for it now. In my country people upto 18 years old get dentalcare for free. I can't say that I'm afraid of going to a dentist itself, but hearing everybody say that it's super expensive scares me, because I'm a working student and my income isn't exactly a bool of money.

I understand.  Fortunately, my dental care has been covered by a medical plan, so I didn't have to pay anything out of pocket or else I would have been apprehensive about payment in addition to being leery about the procedures themselves.   


I read in another post that you recently got a raise from your job of 2 years, so as long as you have income coming in, that is a good thing. Hopefully you can just get a little bit of dental work done at the time, and pay as you go.


Are you in any serious pain? If not, hopefully your teeth aren't in really bad shape. You can just go and get an initial/preliminary check up and at least find out what needs to be done, can't you?

 

[djanx]

Well, I had the same kind of thing as well. But, you know, ultimately health is more important than fear. My fear was mainly related to the cost as well. But, not visiting the dentist would have meant having to spend more on a possible surgery somewhere down the line. So, instead of waiting for that to happen, I just made the appointment.

 

[djanx]

I understand.  Fortunately, my dental care has been covered by a medical plan.

Yeah, but it still costs a lot, even if it's not an out of pocket expense. I mean they're just teeth and we pay the dentists a lot more than they should be. Remember the guy who shot Cecil the Lion? Yeah, we created that guy using insurance money


It's precisely because insurance covers things that some companies and professionals think its okay to charge an arm and a leg. Epipen lady gave the same argument.

 

[Aree Wongwanlee]

When I was younger, I never liked going to see the doctor. Whatever ailment I had, I went to the pharmacy and got the necessary medication to take care of it. However, ever since I was hospitalized a few months ago, I have instead looked forward to seeing the doctor. It's something which I do very regularly now. Perhaps one reason is that the doctor is just five minutes' walk away. Another reason could be that I don't have to pay for the visits since I go to a government clinic.


As for the dentist, I still dread going to see one. However, my last visit to the dentist went off well. I went to fill a small cavity. It was something I never liked because of the drilling involved. So I was rather surprised that the entire operation was quite painless. It seems that the new high-speed drill its accompanying jet of water made the process easily bearable. I wouldn't say pleasant but it wasn't anything to be dreaded.

 

[misszerable]

I am scared of seeing a doctor, too. That's probably because I've never seen one as frequently as other people my age when I was a child. I always dreaded annual physical examinations because I was scared the physician will find out I have a dread disease. I thought that my father was very brave when he heard nothing but bad news about his cancer. He want from one type of doctor to another and though he said he was feeling well, the doctor told him that his PSA count was higher than ever. When he asked how long he would live, he was told 5, 10, or 15 years. I don't think I can bear to hear such information about my own health and mortality. In addition, my dad has a medical insurance plan to take care of his medication and check ups. I don't.

 

[Laneorexorcist]

I think that I have issues when it comes to making appointments in general: haircut, dentist, doctor, etc. And I think that it has to do completely with the anxiety that I have when it comes to talking on the phone with people that I don't interact too much. But usually, my parents make the doctor appointment for me... and the fear it's still there because I have a really bad doctor when it comes to personality in general, but at the end of the day it's something that it has to be done, I guess.