• Dental Phobia Support

    Welcome! This is an online support group for anyone who is has a severe fear of the dentist or dental treatment. Please note that this is NOT a general dental problems or health anxiety forum! You can find a list of them here.

    Register now to access all the features of the forum.

Dentist? I'd rather kill myself.

G

Gorbstein

Junior member
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Messages
5
6 teeth (4 wisdom, 2 molars) to get extracted under IV sedation, tomorrow.

I cancelled it. Again.

Personally, I'd rather go and put my head on the railway line to remove the excruciating pain of 3 abcessed teeth, because I just can't face the dentist again. I've had horrific things happen in the past, dentists who force me down, dentists who keep drilling even when I'm screaming, dentists with unclean equipment and insulting manners. I finally found a dentist I like, but I keep losing the bottle.

I keep trying to analyse this and it keeps coming back to two things.

1) I can't face needles. Never mind the horror of a L.A. jab, the thought of having a needle actually put into a vein makes me just want to stop living. I've loaded up with EMLA and AMETOP cream to numb the arm, but to be honest, I don't even think it's the pain. I simply can't tolerate something forcibly breaking my skin.

2) I've had 5 fillings and an extraction done in the past. I keep getting told 'it's nothing' or 'i've done it and it doesn't hurt'. And the thing is, every time I've had work done, it's hurt so bad I've vowed that no matter how much toothache pain I'm in, I'll never, ever, ever return to the dentist.

I need help :(
 
Hiya :welcome:,

I'm so sorry that you've had such awful experiences with dentists in the past :(. No wonder you're terrified!! It's really great to hear though that you have now found a dentist you like :thumbsup: - it must have taken you a lot of courage to even consider seeing one after what had happened to you.

Have you discussed your fears about the IV needle and feeling pain with your dentist? If so, what did they say? You may be able to find a solution together with your dentist. For example, if they offer nitrous oxide (laughing gas), this usually helps with reducing anxiety to levels where you can accept the IV. Your dentist may be able to reassure you and together you may be able to come up with a solution.

Another option might be to see a psychologist to help you tackle your fears (depending on how urgent the situation is and how quickly you need to act). The advantage of this would be that it could hugely benefit you in years to come (few of us go through life without ever needing an injection).

Another option which I rarely recommend, but it certainly beats suicide, is getting them removed under GA (general anaesthetic). This can only be done in a hospital though (your dentist could transfer you to the community dental service). Depending on where you live, waiting times for this may be long, but you can also get lucky and there might not be much of a backlog. Is this something you'd consider at all? (not everyone likes the idea of GA). This would give you the opportunity to start with a clean slate and by seeing your new dentist regularly, you could avoid any major problems in the future.

It would be a really good idea though to either talk to or email your dentist about what is happening - it's clear that you're trying so hard to get this done and I'm sure they would like to help you :). They may have other suggestions as well!

I hope you'll be able to find a way forward (one which doesn't involve a railway line :o) :XXLhug:
 
Hey
There is misunderstanding regarding pain among dentists. Sometimes it seems that they want to decide if it is painful or not. Luckily, There many dentists who consider pain differently. Pain is a subjective feeling, and if the patient says it is painful than it is painful. It is true that because of stress and disorientation a patient can confuse pain with other sensations, but even if he does so, it is considered pain, until the patient himself realizes (if at all) differently.
Regarding fear from the needle; Usually there are two kinds of needle phobia: "blood-injury phobia" that is people who are sensitive to their body and the chance of it being damaged, and usually for them it is difficult to see blood. Second phobia is simply "needle phobia" which are phobic regarding any kind of needle.
Can you relate to one of these groups?
:-*
 
I'm pleased to say this very quickly turned into a success story.

My girlfriend 'un-cancelled' the appointment and managed to get me in the chair.

Everything else was painless and now it's all over.

You can read the complete story here!

Thank you all!
 
That's fantastic - what a relief - congratulations :jump::jump::jump:!!! So glad to hear that your story had a happy ending :).

Kudos also to Fraser, David Offord (would you like to recommend him on our dentist recommendations board?) and your girlfriend of course :XXLhug:

And thanks for posting your success story :respect: - I'm sure it will help other people in a similar position!
 
Thanks letsconnect. I just added a recommendation. Can't recommend them enough.

Can't recommend my girlfriend though. She's all mine :p

David
 
Last edited:
Back
Top