Finally gonna get some tooth pain checked out

I'm 21, I haven't been to a dentist since a disastrous incident I had when I was 10(two part to my reason for not going, fear, and expense). I went in for a tooth removal, it had cracked in half and needed to be removed. The first went without incident, numbed fine, came out clean. Then the dentist said that the one in front of it was also cracked, and needed to come out as well, okay fine no big deal. Shot me up, never waited for it to numb, went right in yanked it out. I screamed loud enough, apparently, my family in the waiting room at the front of the building(I was in the last room at the back) could hear me. I haven't been able to go since, I even think of it, I get the shakes, and terrified at the thought of even walking into a dentist office.

But I've been having problems with my wisdom teeth since I was 17, them trying to come in, causing me great pain. But always unsuccessful in breaking through the gum, in honesty I'm not even sure if they are fully through the bone yet. So, since I do have the money to have them at least checked(and hopefully removed), since it's probably going to cost a small fortune since I have no insurance currently. My mother and I figured, why not, find a good dentist and try to figure this out. I'm currently supposed to be looking for one, but I'm honestly too terrified to even search the internet for ones in my area(I live in southern Illinois). I'm completely terrified that the same thing will happen again, I've honestly joked with my mother that just to get me to one she'll have to have me hog-tied and carried(I honestly don't feel it's far from the truth).

Good for you for taking the first step of sharing your story on here. Congratulations!

21 is a great age to begin facing your fears and start on the road back to dental care. Hopefully there's nothing wrong which a routine procedure or two won't fix. If you spoke to those of us who left dental care until our 30's, 40's or beyond, I think we'd all say the same thing: "Why didn't I do this sooner???".

Sounds like you had a harrowing experience as a child and I can COMPLETELY understand why that would turn you off dentistry for good! I think the most important first step is to find a dentist you're as comfortable as possible with. This may take a little time, but try to take every experience as a positive, one step at a time. Search around on the Internet or this site for recommended dentists in your area. Once you have one (or a selection) schedule an initial consultation. I know you said that even looking online for dentists makes you feel ill, so take it slow! Go at whatever pace you feel comfortable with. The most important thing is to keep going and not give up, but rushing headlong into something scared half to death does no good either.

Talk to the dentist about your concerns - if they react negatively or brush it off then remember, you're free to leave at any point and I wouldn't recommend going any further if that happened anyway. Likely they won't be the dentist for you.

Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes!

I totally hear ya about how even looking online for a dentist makes you nervous. I found my dentist online and it took me 2 years to finally call them. Like RichH said, I wish I called when I found them. (I was 36 when I finally called)

I had an awful experience as a child too which set off the fear in me big time, but once you find one that you feel comfortable with, it makes a world of difference. You should definitely take your time looking for one. I would google dentist for nervous patients in your area and see what comes up. Then check out online some reviews of them.

The worst part, and everyone will agree, is making that first call.

I wish you good luck with your search!!!

Your experience was hideous - no ethical caring competent dentist would do that to you....there should have been a stop signal and various checks that you were indeed numb before they proceeded regardless. Just because a tooth has been injected does not mean it is numb.

You need to take every step to protect yourself from dentists inflicting pain on you ever again..the easiest way to do this is to realise that not all dentists care about patient comfort to the same level. Whoever has the honour of restoring their profession's credibility as caring and competent in your eyes, will best be able to help you if you explain upfront that a previous dentist extracted a tooth when you were not numb and that they must under no circumstances do any dental work on you unless you feel numb and there will be a system of signals set up in advance to reassure you. You can also take a support person into the treatment room with you to intervene if you for some reason don't trust yourself to be able to speak up.
What was the dentist's reaction by the way? Did they consider it not unusual to cause pain when extracting teeth? Was an explanation or apology forthcoming? Did your parents complain?

Entirely understandable that you fear pain during treatment, find good guy dentist who agrees to give you control/signals and can reassure you that the the norm is not to cause pain during treatment.
Don't settle for anything less than a competent caring person as your next dentist...do just a chat about the issue as the first appointment to make doubly sure you have found someone with a better attitude to patient comfort.
Good luck.