From terrified to uncomfortable - this may give you hope that you can overcome your fear!

From terrified to uncomfortable - this may give you hope that you can overcome your fear!

Hi

I found this site when a tooth infection finally pushed me into seeing a dentist after several years. I found out I was going to lose the tooth (this news delivered in a very casual, 'it's no big deal' way by my former dentist, when as you can imagine it felt like a very big deal to me!).

Spurred on by the support and advice on here, I sought out a dentist who specialises in nervous patients and went ahead with a check-up and then (a few weeks later) the extraction. Thanks to a BRILLIANT dentist (Jenny Pindar at Bupa in London), it all went well.

I knew I had one more filling to be seen to - it had a chip taken out and decay underneath. After the extraction was so much easier than I thought, I then started to dread the filling as at least with the extraction it was super quick and there wasn't any drilling...

Anyway, to sum up, I went yesterday and, again, all was fine. Much less stressful than I expected! I didn't even take a sedative, as I did for the extraction. I wasn't that comfortable, but I got through it.

It's all come down to having a very kind and supportive dentist. Plus my trusty ipod in my ears throughout

I don't think I'll ever not have nerves when seeing the dentist. And I have another journey ahead of me in 6 months' time, when I start the process of getting an implant. BUT I wanted to share this - that I've gone from crying at the mere thought of it, to actually being okay about it, in a very short space of time.

I am so thankful I took the time to find a dentist who deals with frightened patients and takes pride in helping them overcome their fears. I am so relieved that I've had the work done and can stop worrying about it constantly.

I hope this helps others to feel that they CAN get through this, no matter how huge it seems to begin with. One step at a time. The experience of a good and kind dentist has changed my whole perception of dental treatment.

Re: From terrified to uncomfortable - this may give you hope that you can overcome your fear!

That's very true! Sometimes the dentist's attitude matters a great deal. While I'm still scared of the procedures themselves, I at least know that my dentist isn't going to laugh at me or judge me or any of the crazy ideas I had in my head. If nothing else a person should have that.

Re: From terrified to uncomfortable - this may give you hope that you can overcome your fear!

Yes! It's amazing how much of a difference it's made. She does all she can to alleviate the fear. I think she's very gifted and also dexterous as I have had literally zero pain, even from the extraction I had done. I think having someone be totally non-judgemental helped me take all that energy I was using feeling ashamed and embarrassed, and use it to face the actual treatment. I wish everyone could find a dentist like her.

Re: From terrified to uncomfortable - this may give you hope that you can overcome your fear!

Hi,

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your story and helping others. I'm glad you are feeling more positive and I wish you well with your future visits. Personally I'm very interested in hearing how you get on with your implant so hoping you might be able to share your future journey with us too.

Best wishes

Re: From terrified to uncomfortable - this may give you hope that you can overcome your fear!

Hi, thanks for your message. Yes, I'll be happy to post again when I start the implant process. Happily, my extraction site is healing really well but I have a while to wait as the tooth was infected, so I have to wait to see how well the bone heals up. I am trying to see the gap in my mouth as proof that I lived through one of my worse fears and survived! Rather than a nuisance and embarrassment. As its not an obvious gap, no one I didn't tell has even noticed, actually.

best wishes to you, too