• 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.

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Can't believe I actually went to the dentist appointment today !

S

Scared e kat

Junior member
Joined
Mar 30, 2011
Messages
1
Well I have always been very scared of dentist. Let me say never let someone go first so you can watch them or you'll never follow through with your turn ! Well I was suppose to get my wisdom teeth pulled and after watching someone else go ahead of me and seen how it looked and sounded well I was terrified and said I wasn't going to do it now! The dentist warned me in time Id regret that because my teeth would shift and blah blah blah... Well many years later I do regret that choice because now my teeth didn't just shift and mess up my once awesome smile , but this problem I also let go grew to gum issues ! So after having teeth getting lose I soon lost three in three weeks and sure that more will follow if I didn't make a appointment to get started in over coming my fears...I admit just making the appointment was huge step for me since I called three times before making a real date and had every intention of canceling before having to go. I guess if the teeth wasn't front teeth I would have put it off as well ... Well my husband thought I was nuts being so scared and didn't believe me how stressful this whole situation was for me and how ashamed I was going to be going to local dentist looking inside my nasty mouth adding going out of town you wouldn't need to worry as much you would run into anyone you knew ... Silly I know , but in a small town and my over active fears in motion well just needed to find any reason to cancel this appointment ...Well nothing was making my husband agree to cancel since now he was like cancel if your ok with your teeth and not going to hide inside hahahaha . Well it made me realize spring is here we have kids and I needed to deal with this . So after going inside the dentist office all the staff was more then welcoming and the dentist never rushed me and was quick to realize how to deal with someone with high fear levels like myself and just went slow and talked me through it all and never made me listen to the why did you wait so long lecture which was a comfort because how do I explain that ? FEAR duh ! Well after this great dentist told me his recommendation was all my teeth to come out and full dentures adding they don't do dentures there. However was awesome in redirecting me. I'm only hopeful that since he feels it's a safer place to use hospital clinic with this much special care Im going to need with gum and bone loss issues. Well called that place and they are sending me paperwork to fill out and then after they get paperwork back they said within two weeks I will get a response from them and can make an appointment . She said they are booking Into May , which was unfortunate I wasn't able to go ahead to schedule a appointment until after they get paperwork and contact me . Then again gives me time to take all this in I guess and read everyones experiences so I know what to expect . I'm so scared with more then dentist , now I got to worry if I will be able to ware dentures since bone loss issues:( Well Im amazed and relieved Im not alone in my fears after reading all yours , thank you i. Advance for making me feel normal ;-)
 
Hi, Scared and :welcome:!!!!
I couldn't believe that so MANY other people had this paralyzing fear of the dentist, just like me! The fear developed because my mother was a phobic (she NEVER went to the dentist her whole life) and due to bad dental experiences.
I found and joined this forum shortly before I began my dental journey.
Everyone here was SO nice and supportive of what I was about to undertake. Everyone's stories gave me courage (they still do).
You can get through this!!
You need to start a journal on here so when you feel the urge to cancel your appointment, you can vent in your journal, and someone will post words of encouragement, you'll feel better and you won't cancel.
In the meantime, read some of the journals, you'll be hard-pressed not to find a similar story to yours (with many happy endings!!).
Wishing you well,
:hug2:'s,
Jen
 
:welcome: Scared!

You certainly are not alone and we are glad you've joined us and shared your story. I remember how comforted I was to see so many others that felt the way I did and with each and every story, journal and success story I became just a little bit stronger. Hopefully, you'll also allow this site and the wonderful people on it to help you get through your upcoming appointment.

You've already made a big step and I'm glad the Dentist was so caring and helpful. It sounds as though you are going in the right direction.

Don't be too worried about the bone loss issue; that can be taken care of at the time your work is being done. I had a tooth extracted and needed to have a bone graft done for an implant to be placed. The bone grafting was done right after the tooth was removed. I did have sedation so my memory was fuzzy; to be honest, I wouldn't have known they did it if I hadn't been told. :) But, it's done quite frequently for those getting dentures and implants so I'm sure it will not be a problem for you. Soon you will be flashing a huge, beautiful smile! ;D

Best wishes as you move forward on your dental journey!
:grouphug:
 
I can relate, and well done!!! I posted a journal only tonight, after years of not talking about my teeth ever, and having both partial dentures for upper and lower on Tues and Wed this week. It does help. I was informed last Nov they were all gonna come out and spent since then worried sick etc, it was a shock, horror and I got depressed, everything...but reading other people's posts really helped - so much that I can sit here and tell you all about it, and I can smile for the first time in 30 years. The anxiety of it all is, at the moment passed, and the worst bit for me was looking in the mirror for the first time after uppers extracted, and dentures there...i didn't look like me at all. Within an hour, at home, after crying my eyes out, I became hooked to looking in the mirror and smiling - you know what - it actually looked good!
Whatever you do feel now is nothing to what you will feel like afterward - in a good way. Hey, I'm just over 24 hours, and I'm happier.
I still have a way to go, and hope to support and get support throughout on here :).
 
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