|
| Not every dentist is cut out for the job... |
|
| � Dan Rosandich |
Fear of "the dentist" or "dentists" is pretty common. If you've had bad (or not-so-great) experiences
with dentists in the past, it is very easy to make the assumption that dentists, in general, are bad people. There's a theory
called "construct theory", which states that we have a tendency to ascribe certain attributes to a group of people
who have something in common (in this case, dentists), based on our experiences of this group. However, these constructs (e.
g. "evil" as opposed to "kind", "bad" as opposed to "good" and so on) tend to be based
on a very small number of observations.
|
|
Even if you've had the misfortune of running into 10 dentists, none of whom was particularly kind and caring, and one or two
of them who were downright horrible, this does not mean that ALL dentists conform to this "pattern".
Anyway, you'll get the drift: there's no such thing as "the dentist", just as there's no such thing as "the
teacher" (there's good and bad ones) or "the parent" (obviously, "the tax inspector" is an exception
to this rule ;) - my apologies if you're a tax inspector reading this, it's nothing personal!)
It may seem implausible, but there are a lot of caring and gentle dentists around (you'll meet some of them on this site).
The only potential difficulty is finding them! But more about that later...
Ask Dr Silverfill!
"I'm pretty convinced that the only reason why anyone would choose to become a dentist in the first place is because
they enjoy hurting people, or maybe for the money. Am I right in my assumption that dentists are, at best, uncaring?"
"I love what I do, its fun, fullfilling, dynamic etc.. I constantly searched for a health care profession where I could
spend quality time with my patients, have an active role in their health and treatment and one where I made a difference.
Dentistry did that for me... Many of you have seen a horrible dentist or had this horrible experience that started all the
fear. Yes I have to admit dentistry like every other job and profession has good people that care and love what they do and
want to help and others that couldn't care less. This is the same with doctors, dentists, painters, designers, builders etc.
But do not let this small hurdle stop you from getting the treatment and help you need. If you were in a community with only
one dentist and you had no choice that is one thing but 99% of us are not. Dentistry is a very competive field.. so go out
and find the dentist you like, one that loves what they do and not just in it for the money and one that you trust and respect.
This is the key, that together the two of you can come up with a treatment plan it can be very simple or complex, fast or
slow but at least you are on the path to help."
Fear of "the dentist" as a person is often the result of past cold, uncaring, or downright mean behaviour on behalf of
dentists you may have encountered. People fear things like hurtful remarks about the state of their teeth and their oral hygiene,
"the dentist" inflicting pain, unnecessary treatment, and being treated as a set of teeth rather than as a person. You can
read about these and other fears in the various subsections of What's Your Fear? - Common Dental Phobias.
|
