Dentists get anxious too!

[comfortdentist]

So I just want to say from a dentist's perspective that we too get anxious over some patient's care. Sometimes the anxiety is over the difficulty of the procedure as dentistry can be very complicated involving fine details being performed under adverse conditions. Sometimes the anxiety can be related to the medical condition of the patient as none of us want to have a medical emergency. And of course thirdly most dentists don't care to see anxious patients as it is more likely to make them anxious. Curiously anxious patients don't make me anxious as I know that virtually everyone will do well and be happy.
I hope some of our dentists who regularly answer questions on this forum will add to my comments.

 

[carole]

I as a nervous patient have been aware for years that I can make some dentists anxious, you can tell. I need someone that is confident in what they are doing and who doesn't appear to be effected by my nerves. I have often thought it must be very hard to work on someone that is shaking and really doesn't want to be there.

The dentists that manage to work on nervous people without losing their cool deserve a medal

 

[ScaredyCat22]

So I just want to say from a dentist's perspective that we too get anxious over some patient's care. Sometimes the anxiety is over the difficulty of the procedure as dentistry can be very complicated involving fine details being performed under adverse conditions. Sometimes the anxiety can be related to the medical condition of the patient as none of us want to have a medical emergency. And of course thirdly most dentists don't care to see anxious patients as it is more likely to make them anxious. Curiously anxious patients don't make me anxious as I know that virtually everyone will do well and be happy.
I hope some of our dentists who regularly answer questions on this forum will add to my comments.

As a terrified patient I have to tell you that much of this makes me feel worse. This especially considering I have had so many botched procedures "Sometimes the anxiety is over the difficulty of the procedure as dentistry can be very complicated involving fine details being performed under adverse conditions"
I wish that if a dentist was not confident in his ability to perform a procedure he would just refer me elsewhere instead of telling me he can help me, taking my money, and leaving me worse off than I was before.

This part I was already aware of "And of course thirdly most dentists don't care to see anxious patients as it is more likely to make them anxious"
Because it is really hard to find a dentist willing to help when you are terrified, and it is even harder to find someone willing to even let you in the door to look at you when you have had previous botched work done. Once they hear that they do not want you. either they are afraid they will get blamed for someone else's bad work, or they just plain don't want to bother trying to fix someone else's mistakes.

Especially if you have been treated so badly that it is suggested you report the dentist to the dental association. Once you do that you are screwed. All other dentists seem to know about it and they don't want you as a patient. Then you are left not only with the terror of being afraid to see a dentist, but the knowing that none of them want you as a patient.

 

[Tink]

See, this one is complex. I've been pondering this thread.

I've found I'm really appreciating posts like these - along with comfortdentist's other thread about having implant surgery - as it's helping to see dentists as human. For a long time I saw dentists as 'other' (maybe some sort of weird aliens!). Certainly as a distant authority figure. It really transformed the way I relate to dentists once I started to view my dentist as just another human like me.

The flip side of that is that since dentists are people too, you'll find the full range of humans there. Some of them are fantastic, some are awful, and each will have their own particular strengths and weaknesses and peculiarities. But it really helps to not see dentists as one homogenous mass or fall into the trap of thinking "they're all the same" or "they're not like us".

As a terrified patient I have to tell you that much of this makes me feel worse. This especially considering I have had so many botched procedures "Sometimes the anxiety is over the difficulty of the procedure as dentistry can be very complicated involving fine details being performed under adverse conditions"

If a dentist is out of his/her depth and a procedure is beyond their skill level then yes, absolutely, they should not be performing it and it is irresponsible and unprofessional for them to attempt to do so. Sadly this has happened to you a lot and I wish I could package up my good dentists and send them over!

There's anxiety and there's anxiety though. Some of it can be awful and crippling (as I'm sure we all know since we're posting here!), but there are aspects of it that can be helpful for a professional. I think that's part of what comfortdentist is referring to.

So while crippling anxiety is a problem, a slight nervousness or sense of heightened awareness as you are about to do something complex and important can be appropriate. You want your dentist to be alert and have their wits about them when they are doing some tricky surgery - maybe more like the nerves a performer might feel before going on stage. It's about bringing their 'A' game. Focused.

What you really *don't* want is a dentist who isn't absorbed in what they are doing, who is bored or just dialling it in...so there's such a thing as being too relaxed and that can tip over into complacency and carelessness.

My dentist is very calm and confident when he's working - he gives off that chilled but totally in control vibe that you sometimes get from people like airline pilots, and it's something I find very comforting when having treatment. He's also totally focused though, you can tell that if something went wrong or an emergency came up he'd be on it in a heartbeat. So under the calm confident exterior you can bet he's alert, engaged.

This part I was already aware of "And of course thirdly most dentists don't care to see anxious patients as it is more likely to make them anxious"
Because it is really hard to find a dentist willing to help when you are terrified, and it is even harder to find someone willing to even let you in the door to look at you when you have had previous botched work done. Once they hear that they do not want you. either they are afraid they will get blamed for someone else's bad work, or they just plain don't want to bother trying to fix someone else's mistakes.

Especially if you have been treated so badly that it is suggested you report the dentist to the dental association. Once you do that you are screwed. All other dentists seem to know about it and they don't want you as a patient. Then you are left not only with the terror of being afraid to see a dentist, but the knowing that none of them want you as a patient.

Yeah, I hear you! I really feel for you, you've had such a string of terrible dentists and bad experiences I know there are good ones out there, I really, really hope that some day you will find your 'tooth whisperer'. Remember, they are not all the same and they will not all think the same way.

 

[Thephilsblogbar]

I often worry do dentist get anxious about doing the treatment and looking inside people mouths all day.

Also being anxious getting the treatment right and not miss anything

 

[Thephilsblogbar]

I am not the best patient who my dentist sees I get so nervous and scared, even though she has seen me for years as well as her assistant and both do their best to calm me down. I go every three months because of my overbite and to make sure any problems I may get are caught early and treated.

From reading the pratice website I attend, all the dentist and assistant are aware on how to help nervous patients, that some of us dont enjoy going for checkups and get any treatment we may need

 

[Enarete]

Thank you so much for this post, comfortdentist!

Reading about thigs from a dentist's perspective is one of the best things of this forum because as a patient you never ever have a chance to find out how things really are for your dentist. So you just keep swimming in what you think your dentist thinks and that is mostly just wrong and a result of the own anxieties.

And it's funny because I was wondering if dentists feel at least a part of the heavy intense anxiety of their patients and wanted to search this forum or start a thread and today I came across this post by an accident.

I was wondering about this because I know that intense emotions can get transfered. So being in a room with someone who is extremely angry is just unpleasant and results heavy feelings in the chest. Also dealing with someone who is panicky makes me feel his/her emotions to some extent. Or just entering a room where a fight took place few minutes ago and you can sense it immediatelly.
So I was wondering if as a dentist one feels such discomfort or if you have found any ways to get past this..

So again, thank you for this and for all your other insides and success stories and explanations, they are really anxiety soothing and helpful.

I hope some of our dentists who regularly answer questions on this forum will add to my comments.

This would be great.

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Yes.. I just want to thank you too comfort dentist for bringing this up.

I know my treatment has been difficult sometimes and probably my dentist has found things he didn't know lurked beneath the surface or unexpected obstacles along the way.. I can tangibly feel his empathy and the fact he doesn't want to worry me and knows I'm anxious but he is thinking what to do in the most calm way and even adds a bit of humor at times. He is a great problem solver and knows how to put me to ease even when I'm sure things are challenging for him.

Heres to all the dentists including yourself that continue to put us to ease and help us through our anxiety as patients even in the midst of anxious situations for them/you.!! You are superheros on a daily basis!