Suffer from dental phobia

[Judy67]

I have not been to the dentist in the last 5 years. I am a horrible dentistry-phobic. Now, I am facing severe toothache. Sometimes the pain gets really worse and my hubby advised me to visit a dentist and get the tooth extracted. But I am really worried to take the treatment. Anyone here had similar situations?

 

[janemariesayed]

Nobody really loves the dentist. It is really painful to have extractions or any work done on the teeth. It is also really scary because of the anticipation of the pain we may endure. If you have a phobia about dentists but you are in need to visit one, then you can perhaps ask your Husband to go with you. Hopefully, he understands your anxiety, and to have a phobia coupled with anxiety is not pleasant as it makes going for treatment more difficult. Toothache has to be one of the worst pains there is so it is important for you to deal with it. Get your Husband to go with you, that bit of support will work wonders.

 

[Natasha0717]

Are you sure it's a bad tooth/cavity? Because if you suffer from anxiety, there's a very good chance you could be doing some damage to that side of your mouth/teeth/tooth by clenching or grinding that area in your sleep. Many, many times I've thought something was wrong with one of my teeth, or even my gum...or sometimes my jaw. And I've thought I had an infection or cavity or something...and then it would turn out I was just clenching that side of my mouth in my sleep. It would go away in a few days or weeks.
Side note: I'M SCARED OF THE DENTIST TOO. But then when I'm actually there, I'm thinking, "WHY am I so scared of this place?? This is so easy." hahaha 90% of the fear is created in our own minds. The other 10% is because dentists are a little like doctors.

 

[misszerable]

I'm scared of dentists, too, and of what goes on inside the dentist clinic. Even having my teeth cleaned scares me because it can hurt. I've also had bad experiences in childhood when I had two molars extracted in one visit. I collapsed the next morning! But you can't avoid dentists completely. There are a lot of even worse stuff that can happen if you fail to take care of your teeth and visit a dentist regularly. My advice is to look for a dentist with a soft touch. You can ask around before deciding on which dentist to see. In my case, a number of people referred a lady dentist with a gentle touch and she was just perfect for the job. She's a strong and large bodied woman who knows how to extract teeth forcefully yet gently.

 

[Bllexy]

Like @janemariesayed said, no one really like the dentist. I myself had an amount of work that needed to be done when I was a kid. I refused going and whenever I did I would cry so hard that the dentist couldn't get any work done (and I hated that smell of dead baby teeth).

Then one day I just had my grandpa ask me about whether I would like to have him pay for the fixed braces since I had crooked teeth at the age of 18 or so. I was skeptical of myself and the procedure and I knew that before they even consider placing that on you, that you needed to have work done to have completely healthy teeth.

Turns out I was correct and my agony was only beginning. They removed 3 healthy teeth and 1 really bad one, several of them they drilled, filled, and plentiful of injections were taken and I don't know how, but at one point it was so easy for me as if I didn't care what they do to me which made me realize that I had that child phobia from when I was a kid. And now I'm this 18 year old who can take a lot more and it surprised me. You can't ask a dentist to be fully gentle with you. It will hurt but not as nearly as you think and there are numbing drugs so that's cool too!

So what I would say is to try and face your fears, in this case as soon as possible! Since if you neglect the teeth, you risk on taking a multitude of diseases and health risks keep pilling up. Please go to the dentist ASAP and get them pearls shinning!https://www.anxietycommunity.com/index.php?members/janemariesayed.453/

 

[janemariesayed]

I was always afraid to go to the dentists when I was a child. Somehow, my mother trusted me to go on my own and I never used to go for my 6 monthly check up. I would tell her that I'd been and nothing needed to be done.

She didn't believe me and took me herself next time. I heard her say to the dentist that I had not yet had any fillings at 8 years old. The dentist said okay and gave me three fillings. I didn't believe I needed them at the time. I believed that the dentist was just making my mum happy. Perhaps getting his quota done for the NHS.

I didn't go back to the dentist after that until two decades later when I had a toothache. The dentist took the tooth out which was one of the ones I had had a filling put into when I was a child.

I've never been tot he dentist since then either. Now we are another two and a half decades away from when I had that tooth out. Touch wood! I don'[t suffer from my teeth and now only have two fillings. And I've only ever had that one tooth ache.

 

[Emma_s]

I am terrified of the dentist. I had braces between middle school and high school and the entire experience seemed to leave a mark on me. It didn’t help that my dentist wasn’t very nice, I dreaded him coming over to check my teeth. I want to suggest you find a dentist that you’re truly comfortable with. Going to the dentist isn’t going to be fun, but maybe knowing the dentist will explain everything to you and reassure you will make it better. Taking someone also helps, and it you’re getting a procedure done, ask if you can listen to music. They let us use our music players where I go now, as long as you’re still paying some attention if they ask you to do something. Best of luck!