S
Spider
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2013
- Messages
- 145
- Location
- Pacific Northwest, USA
Warning, long rambling rant, lol!
Long story, but I have pretty bad dental phobia and 2 years ago I moved cross country and needed to find a new dentist. My old dentist did pretty shoddy work, but I liked how “fast” he was so I stuck with him rather than find a better, slower, dentist. Because of my phobia, I’d much rather spend 5 minutes in a complete panic to get a crappy filling than 30 minutes in a complete panic to get a well placed filling. Ugh, I know
So I moved and I dragged my feet a bit, but then I made an appointment with a dentist in my new little town. There was a long list of things that needed to be repaired due to decay around fillings. In less than 2 years I’ve done 2 crowns, 3 cleanings and 4 or 5 fillings (mostly done one per visit). I have ONE more thing left and its a crown. This last appointment has been causing me SO much anxiety… surely I should be a pro by now but I’m really suffering with anxiety and fear.
The appointment is in 2 weeks and its all I can think about. If I cancel it, I’m afraid that I’ll feel like a failure for giving in to my anxiety. I’m afraid that I will never reschedule it. I have to get it done eventually, so delaying it isn’t helping me. I’m under a lot of stress right now so maybe I should cancel and reschedule for a less stressful time in my life. I have seasonal anxiety and September, October and November are my toughest months, so I think part of my increased anxiety is due to my seasonal issues. My kids are starting school next week and I’m stressed about that too. My daughter has a learning disability and is in special education and I always fear that she’ll have an uncaring teacher or be made fun of, etc. I have 2 school meetings coming up where I have to be assertive. I also have agoraphobia so all this “life stuff” is very hard for me. Just driving my kids to and from school is hard, but I push through and do it because I have no other choice. Its a 20 minute drive one way, so its a long way from my home, my “safe area”. All this is going through my head over and over and I’m feeling quite crazy for being so terrified of something that is literally only 1 or 2 hours of my life. All of this self scolding just makes me feel worse about myself. I don't know what to do
I just need to unload because no one else understands. Does anyone else ever feel like their dental phobia has worsened even after many successful appointments? I don’t expect to sing and dance on mornings that I have a dentist appointment, but I’d like to stop spending so much time dreading it!
Long story, but I have pretty bad dental phobia and 2 years ago I moved cross country and needed to find a new dentist. My old dentist did pretty shoddy work, but I liked how “fast” he was so I stuck with him rather than find a better, slower, dentist. Because of my phobia, I’d much rather spend 5 minutes in a complete panic to get a crappy filling than 30 minutes in a complete panic to get a well placed filling. Ugh, I know
So I moved and I dragged my feet a bit, but then I made an appointment with a dentist in my new little town. There was a long list of things that needed to be repaired due to decay around fillings. In less than 2 years I’ve done 2 crowns, 3 cleanings and 4 or 5 fillings (mostly done one per visit). I have ONE more thing left and its a crown. This last appointment has been causing me SO much anxiety… surely I should be a pro by now but I’m really suffering with anxiety and fear.
The appointment is in 2 weeks and its all I can think about. If I cancel it, I’m afraid that I’ll feel like a failure for giving in to my anxiety. I’m afraid that I will never reschedule it. I have to get it done eventually, so delaying it isn’t helping me. I’m under a lot of stress right now so maybe I should cancel and reschedule for a less stressful time in my life. I have seasonal anxiety and September, October and November are my toughest months, so I think part of my increased anxiety is due to my seasonal issues. My kids are starting school next week and I’m stressed about that too. My daughter has a learning disability and is in special education and I always fear that she’ll have an uncaring teacher or be made fun of, etc. I have 2 school meetings coming up where I have to be assertive. I also have agoraphobia so all this “life stuff” is very hard for me. Just driving my kids to and from school is hard, but I push through and do it because I have no other choice. Its a 20 minute drive one way, so its a long way from my home, my “safe area”. All this is going through my head over and over and I’m feeling quite crazy for being so terrified of something that is literally only 1 or 2 hours of my life. All of this self scolding just makes me feel worse about myself. I don't know what to do
I just need to unload because no one else understands. Does anyone else ever feel like their dental phobia has worsened even after many successful appointments? I don’t expect to sing and dance on mornings that I have a dentist appointment, but I’d like to stop spending so much time dreading it!