Extreme fear of the dentist

[Cs0712]

Hi, I have extreme fear of flying and dentist. I got the courage to fly after watching umpteen amounts of YouTube videos. And now I have plucked up the courage to visit the dentist on Wednesday. My teeth are quite back. I have 4 that are decayed and just black roots left. And I am petrified the dentist is going to judge me or say something to embarrass me. I stopped going to the dentist after one dentist that other people nicknamed “the butcher” when I was a teen he was giving me a filling and I could still feel it and I told him I could feel it but he told me I couldn’t. So my mum said can you wait until she’s fully numb and his reaction was he pulled the gauze thing out of my mouth and told us to leave and never come back and since then my fear has been that bad I can’t even take my kids the dentist my mum takes them to their checkups. I’m so scared of what the dentist is going to say to me. I don’t even know what I am asking here but I just need some reassurance I think. Thank you

 

[letsconnect]

Hi @Cs0712, so sorry to hear about your bad experiences with "the butcher" - that sounds awful. Do you know much about the dentist you're going to see on Wednesday? Is it the same one the rest of your family uses? If so, hopefully somebody will be able to tell you a little more about them before your appointment and put your mind at rest . Or you could check Google reviews to check if they sound like the kind and caring sort.

I'm not sure if you've seen the rest of this website (a lot of people don't realise there's a website as well as the forum). But in case you haven't, do have a nosey around. There is also a handy questionnaire which you can give to your dentist to let them know about your concerns - you can find it here:

https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/media/patient-form.pdf

Wishing you all the best for Wednesday and keeping my fingers crossed that the new dentist is a keeper

 

[Cs0712]

@letsconnect thanks for replying my sister is with this dentist she to has dental anxiety as she was a previous patient of ‘the butcher’ also. She said the dentist is lovely. I’m just so embarrassed by how bad things are

 

[letsconnect]

Oh, that sounds like a great recommendation . Is/was your appointment this Wednesday or next Wednesday? If it was this Wednesday, did you end up going, and if so, how did it go?

 

[Cs0712]

@letsconnect yes it was today at 11am. The dentist she was amazing. The outcome wasn’t as bad as I expected. The 4 remaining teeth I knew obviously need to come out. And only 1 filling. And a deep clean afterwards. Thank you for your advise I really do appreciate it

 

[letsconnect]

That's wonderful news, sounds like you've found a lovely dentist . Congratulations!!