Aware I'm becoming a nuisance

[rebeccauk]

Hi everyone
im wondering if anyone here has had counselling/ therapy for dental worries? Im starting to think this is something that I need to consider. I've had some counselling for health anxiety which incorporated my worries about dental but I didn't feel that the counsellor really understood my issues.

I've been to four different dentists since November and I've left the first two because I could tell I was becoming a nuisance to them. I was fixating on my dental problems and keeping ringing/ going back to them with worries.

This week I've found a new dentist who is very nice but extremely busy. He's NHS although I'm going as a private patient. He's agreed to extract my two front teeth next month. I've seen him today as I've had a very sore back tooth overnight with a small breakage to a filling and he's placed some temp filling cement on the tooth but I feel like it's hurting even more now and the cement feels like it's touching the dentine. I'm worried that I'm going to annoy the dentist by nagging at him like I've done with the others. I wish I could change how I am! I'm literally obsessed with my teeth and this pain in the temp filling cement. Sometimes I just wish I could ignore tooth pain and just get on with my life

 

[Tink]

Hi -

I've had therapy over dental stuff - from a therapist who conveniently is also a dentist! It's something that can really help, if you find the right person/approach for you.

I think many of us worry about being a nuisance - I know I worry that I'm a right pain in the arse! I'm certainly high-maintenance. Where you're making a leap though, is assuming that this will annoy them...we don't actually know how they feel about it, but our anxious heads do have a tendency to leap to the conclusion that they must hate us for it. Very often, that turns out to be not true at all!



Also, remember, you're paying him - especially if you're going as a private patient - it's his job to look at teeth you are concerned about, odds are he doesn't actually have any particularly strong feelings about how often you show up, it's just another appointment in his day's work.


For what it's worth, this kind of worry is really, really common amongst anxious patients, so you're definitely not alone, and it's definitely something dentists are well used to seeing.

 

[rebeccauk]

Thank you so much. I appreciate your reply. I was back at the dentist yesterday and he extracted the tooth with the filling issue at my request. I think you're right that I'm probably more aware of bothering the dentist than he is aware of it if you know what I mean. He's a really kind and patient man and the first dentist who has treated me like a human being rather than a set of teeth. The counselling you had with the dentist sounds great. Can I ask where in the uk you are and where this dentist/ counsellor was? Thanks

 

[Tink]

Will send you a PM!