• 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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Dental phobic ... Really need my disgusting teeth fixed ...

K

kayx

Junior member
Joined
Nov 3, 2017
Messages
1
Hi. I am new to this forum.

My teeth are so bad and I really want them fixed. Was hoping for support and advice from others in the same situation.

Here is a little about myself. I am 31 years old and have a terrible dental phobia. I rarely went throughout my childhood and lastbtime in went was years and years ago. Well last year I plucked up the courage to register with a dentist for a check up. He said eight bottom teeth and one top tooth are OK. So nine teeth are OK but I need the rest extracted. He booked me in to go back two weeks later but due to my dental fear I didn't go back.

My self confidence has really taken a knock due to my teeth. I have a big gap in my front of my mouth. I rarely smile beczus I'm embarrassed to show my teeth.

Anyone else also have this extreme phobia and reallybwant their teeth fixed??

Any tips for easing the phobia?

I'm also worried that when I do go to the dentist he will judge me due to my horrid looking teeth.

Dentist I had last year wasn't understanding at all about my dental anxiety so I obviously will be changing dentists. But ibreally can't even bring my self to go. Even thinking about it sends me into a panic.

Also the fact I will be 31 years old and wearing dentures.

Thank you
 
Well I'm 28 and wearing dentures, and have been since I was 25, and I can tell you it's definitely not the worst thing in the world. If I weren't active on this forum and sharing my experience so often, I don't think I'd even remember I was wearing them except when cleaning them. :giggle:

As you can see, you're definitely not alone here. I was also terrified of the dentist. What makes a difference is a kind, patient, and understanding dentist. That's the difference between a traumatic experience in the chair, and one that's not fun, but you can bear the thought of doing it again.

Do some research online and see if you can find a dentist who advertises as being good with phobic and anxious patients. There are sooo many of us (this website alone gets thousands more views than it does posts, just from people looking up dental phobias online), and there are many dentists who are experienced in treating them. You can communicate your needs to the dentist beforehand. You can ask them to go slowly and be gentle with you, and ask for frequent breaks to have a sip of water if you're feeling overwhelmed. Other people listen to music or bring stuffed animals with them for comfort. If it's helping you get the healthcare you need, then it's totally okay for you to ask. :)

A good dentist also won't judge you. It's their job to treat you, not shame you. A well-reviewed dentist likely will be compassionate, but if any dentist does make you feel bad, you can walk out and find another one, as it's your right to get treatment from a good professional who treats you humanely and kindly.

It's really scary, but you can do it. You worked up the guts to post here, which is just the first step. And it's always much worse in our heads when we're imagining how awful it can be. It's better to try focus on your end goal, a healthy mouth and a nice smile.

Hang in there :hug4:
 
One of the things that helps me is to communicate with the dentist. I take Valium before the appointments and never remember half of what they say or any of my questions. I write the questions in a notebook and my wife goes to the exam room with me to remember the answers. We just go through the list before anything else is done.

If you aren't comfortable doing that, can you email the questions you asked and concerns and see what they say in response or call them and ask to meet the dentist in his office, not the exam room so you don't have to have a fear of anything being done?

None of us are very good at this, or we wouldn't be here :)

Wanting to get it fixed is the first step.
 
I know exactly how you are feeling. I am 37 years old and my teeth are terrible. I have gaps forming in the front, and I'm pretty sure I don't have one tooth in my mouth that doesn't have some sort of problem. Most of my teeth in back I've had removed or are broken.

I feel the same way that I am embarrassed to smile. I used to think of myself as a pretty girl...not anymore. My self confidence is gone.

I have dialed up the dentist numerous times only to hang up. When I have gotten up the nerve to make an appointment I always cancel. I am a wreck and so afraid of what they will say. The dentist I have always went to has never passed any judgement, but i am still scared. I don't want to hear the word "dentures" but I'm sure I will.

I will say that by reading the posts in this forum I am finally starting to realize that I am not alone. Unfortunately I don't think I will finally be able to make that appointment until after Christmas. I have three kids who I want to give a nice Christmas to, and financially I just can't afford the dentists bill right now :(

Anyways I just want you to know that you are not alone. I would be happy to keep in touch if you need someone to talk to. Maybe we could be each other's support system :) Hang in there.
 
I have just had gum treatment, a filling and an extraction after not going for 16 years. I found this forum by chance and followed advice from another poster. I went online and looked up local dentists. Most of them have photos and I found on I thought I would feel comfortable with. Then I sent an email explaining my fear. They emailed back saying they would love to help and please ring to make an appointment. I did this straight away before I could chicken out. Although I was a bag of nerves on the day I felt like I had already met the dentist as I knew what she looked like. She was lovely. I told her How embarrassed I was and she told me not to be. She had a look around my mouth and her assistant logged in lots of info about my teeth on the computer. I had an xray on each side of my mouth. The dentist said one would have to come out which I already suspected, and I would need the next one filling. Also I had gum disease so would have to see another equally nice lady for a good clean up. 3 weeks later I've had the treatment and just don't know why I was so scared. It was a bit uncomfortable put not painful. I will definitely keep going for check ups. Good luck.
 
I know how you feel even though I go regularly (every three months) I still feel my teeth are diguesting I had a bit of work done on them, I got a very narrow mouth, awkard mouth. I think I got a overcrowding problem even as an adult, I dont want to lose my teeth, but sometimes I have wanted to removed them to make it easier for me.
 
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