What caused your fear or phobia?

[BarbaraM]

My fear started when I was in junior school and I had to go see the school dentist to have a tooth out.

He was called Mr. Miller and all the kids at school called him 'Miller the Killer', geeeeeeze enough to scare you to start with lol.

Sat in the chair and before my back touched the seat he had the heal of his hand on my forehead pushing me backwards and in the other hand was the hateful mask which gave you the gas. He was a hateful man and shouted at me to stop crying as he did all this.

Hence, my lifelong fear of dentists, some might say childish but I was a child when this was done to me.

[franklinm]

I think I've always been a little anxious about going to the dentist but since November it got way worse to the point where I worry about going to the dentist every day even though I might not have an appointment for months. In November I had 4 baby teeth extracted to make room for my adult teeth and before I had never really had any extensive work done on my teeth the only work I had done on them them was 4 fillings before. So I did some research online about tooth extractions and that made me freak out even more. So I was terrified of getting my teeth pulled and getting an injection and eventually doomsday came and it was better than I expected because I had nitrous which helped a lot and it probably made the appointment even possible. But I would still consider that experience to be a bad one. So I would say what caused my fears was getting my teeth pulled.

[norwegianchick]

I think that having my mouth forced open with a moult mouth prop and having 8 amalgam fillings done with no anesthetic whatsoever has something to do with it. All this when I was 7 years old.

After becoming an adult and being able to decide for myself if I wanted to see the dentist, I of course stayed away until I got a problem.

Dentists who work with children should be aware of their responsibility to make sure the children aren't frightened away from professional dental care forever. If I'd gone regularly, I'm sure I wouldn't have ended up with the BIG fillings in my teeth that now are root canals. And I didn't mind going to the dentist before that traumatic experience.

[algorithm&blues]

I started being afraid of the dentist at a fairly young age due to probably similar reasons to most: having a pushy and unsympathetic dentist at the time.

I cannot remember going to the dentist until about 8, but my mother assures me I went every six months up to that age so I'm assuming those previous visits were drama free.

I fell down a set of stairs in school onto a concrete playground floor and knocked out about 4 or 5 of my baby teeth as well as fracturing my jaw in a small way. This resulted in a fair bit of facial work and dental work. This was where my fear started as my dentist was completely unsympathetic, he would tell me to "shut up" when I winced in pain etc. When I told him that the anaesthetic hadn't made my mouth feel numb he just carried on.

For about 6 years visits to the dentist were terrible, eventually I convinced my mother to let me register with another dentist in the local area.

When I was 14/15 it became apparent I was going to need braces due to the earlier jawbreak incident. One or two of my front teeth were growing in totally the wrong direction. My new dentist referred me to the orthodontist, but said I would need all my dental work done prior to being seen.....

Between 12 and 14 I really discovered sweets, I loved them... and you can probably tell where this is going? I ended up needing 3 teeth on the bottom filled and 3 teeth on top. My new dentist did all 6 fillings in one sitting. It was hard work, must have been in the chair for 2 and a half to 3 hours....

I had my braces put on, had them removed 18 months later and after all the pain and fear just decided I couldn't face it any more.

When I was 16, about 3 months after having the braces off. I'd been trying super hard to keep my teeth in the right condition. I was brushing twice a day, mouthwash twice a day, floss once a day - I even took a small bottle of mouthwash to school so I could gargle it after having lunch... anyway, I went for a check up and I needed another filling.....

I don't know what came over me, but I just decided I couldn't take it any more and I never went back!

The fear consumed me for the best part of 13 or so years. I cracked one of my back molars in 2006 and put up with the pain for 6 years before seeking the help of a local dentist who helped me get over my fear of dentists.

[Aldridge]

This is going to sound ridiculous, but in my defence, I was only primary school age at the time. We had a beloved family dog who had been with us all of my life. She disappeared while I was at school one day and my Dad sat on my bed that night (I was crying) and he said, "We couldn't help her any more, so she was put to sleep and God will look after her now, in heaven." Not long after that, Mum took me to the school dental clinic. I wasn't scared; why would I be? I walked into the surgery and stopped, just looking round and taking things in, and the dentist snarled at me to hurry up and get in the chair. Then he told me to put my hands together...how I'd seen dead people depicted in sculptures and paintings...then he said, "I'm going to put you to sleep." Well, I just went berserk; I thought Mum and Dad couldn't help me any more so they were having me put to sleep and I'd never see them again. It was a totally unfortunate choice of words. If this man had called my Mum in, or even just explained more to me himself, it would still have been OK, but he lost his temper completely and he and his nurse (think The Terminator in a bra) held me down and put the gas mask on me. I was holding my breath and struggling, so when I woke up (minus 3 teeth which were perfectly healthy but I think the idea was to eventually fit braces), I felt incredibly sick. All the nurse said was that I was wicked and she'd tell my Mum and I'd be in more trouble. I was supposed to go back...the first time, I hid Mum's purse so when we got on the bus, she had no fare money. The second time, I locked myself in our toilet. The third time, she got me there but I whipped round away from her and ran across several lanes of Birmingham traffic. She took me home. The start of over 20 years' avoidance...

[vicki]

This is going to sound ridiculous, but in my defence, I was only primary school age at the time.

It doesn't sound ridiculous at all. We're even more impressionable when we're that age, which is why it's important to have positive experiences at the dentist from the very beginning, so that when our parents take us to the dentist for the first time, we learn that it's a normal part of life (or at least it's supposed to be!) and is not to be feared.

Your reaction is totally understandable. To be honest, I still don't like the term "put you to sleep" either, especially if I'm in hospital and need surgery... because animals are "put to sleep" and I associate it with my pet rabbit being "put to sleep" when I was about 8 years old.

No wonder you were scared; I think I would have gone berserk too (some of my past experiences were similar to this and I definitely lost it completely). The dentist could have calmed you down and explained what was going to happen so that you felt more comfortable and were not scared, but unfortunately he chose to behave in the way that he did.

As for nurses, well, the nurse who used to help my dentist when I was younger was fairly evil too (she had to be to condone the things that my dentist did and the way that he treated me for years), not so much The Terminator, but more Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. One of the most effective ways to keep a child quiet is to tell them that they've been bad and threaten to tell their parents. I still haven't told my parents nearly 30 years later. It's unforgivable behaviour on their part and a total abuse of trust.

[Aldridge]

Vicki, it's so kind of you to have read my post and taken the time to write such a thoughtful reply. My parents have passed on now, but I never told them what went on that day. I still feel stupid, because of course I realised quite early on that it was all a misunderstanding, but I was too scared then to go and see any dentist, even when I got old enough to choose my own. Just the sight of a dental surgery on TV would have me leaving the room! Then you start to get dental problems and can add being ashamed and embarrassed to being scared witless...it's a vicious circle which takes some getting out of. That's why I like to help people on here if I can possibly do so. You have helped me with your response to my post, thank you. Wishing you the best.

[amy360]

My fear of the dentist started when i was about 5 years old, my baby teeth were broken and brittle. I still don't know why. But they had to be removed, so not worried at all my mom took me to the dentist. I sat in the chair with my teddy bear then three people walk in. One of them tries to put a mask on my face, and i start freaking out. Next thing i know all three of them are holding me down forcing this mask on my face and i can smell the gas. It was terrifying, i was only 5. I remember crying, pain and waking up covered in blood, my bear covered in blood and a mouth full of cotton packs. According to my mom i turned blue in the middle of it and stopped breathing. Nice to know they still got the job done. It still terrifies my now and i don't like things on my face.

[Patti]

I have NO IDEA! Except for the fact that my parents never took me to a dentist. I always had pretty good looking teeth, not perfectly straight but not real crooked either. I am almost 49 years old and the first time I went to a dentist (aside from one cleaning in my 20's) was 6 years ago when I broke a tooth that was visible. I had a filling--it went fine. Then another filling--that went fine too. And then I stopped going. Fast forward to April of this year I went back for what I thought would be a filling and it ended up being an RTC or extraction. I chose the extraction. Probably not a good idea in retrospect but it's done. No pain with that either. Now I am getting x-rays for all of my teeth and I'm pretty darn scared about it. My dentist did an oral exam and said he's seen a lot worse and that the "mountain" I said I feel like I'm about to climb is more like a "hill." He said some people are blessed with good genes for teeth and gums. I don't know how or where I got those genes since my mom had dentures at 18 and my dad had them too (younger than I am now). Anyway, now I regret not going to the dentist earlier in my life (out of fear) because now I will be facing a mouthful of teeth AND 49 years of fear yet besides. Even though I have had no bad experiences with a dentist, I'm still petrified of feeling pain during a procedure. I have a very good dentist now, so hopefully this fear will pass. This could just be white coat syndrome as I fear doctors too (but not as much as dentists)! Well, I actually don't fear doctors or dentists--just their....... procedures!

[bella127]

I've no idea. Just always been there. I remember being about 6/7 and feeling like I couldn't breathe in the dentists - whether this was because I was already panicking or the cause, I don't know. I still come out in a cold sweat if I drive past that clinic. Mum used to have to keep appointments a secret or keep me off school because if I knew I had to go after school, I'd run away at some point!