• 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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Haven't been to dentist in 20 years

Steven8919

Steven8919

Junior member
Joined
Jul 8, 2019
Messages
3
Location
Londonderry
Hi, I haven't been to a dentist in many years due to a bad experience when I was younger, my teeth are starting to give me bother only yester I was eating and one of my back teeth broke in half, so know I really need to get myself to a dentist, any1 any good advice in how I can beat my anxiety about going to the dentist??
 
Hello,
Welcome to the forums. Sorry to hear about your bad prior experiences. Have you looked at the common fears section of this site to try to identify what specific things you are afraid of? Once you know what the fear is related to you can work on addressing it directly.

Just some general advice.
• Try to focus on the positive aspects of what you are trying to accomplish (facing the anxiety, getting your tooth fixed, etc.).
• You have had bad experiences in the past so you already know what doesn't feel right. If something isn't working our at the appointment you are in-control and can stop at any time.
• Check out the step-by-step guide link below, it has a lot of useful information:

 
If counseling is available, ask for “cbt -exposure hierarchy”.

What it means isn’t important right now, but know that it is a proven way to overcome anxiety.
 
Hi Steven8919,

Welcome to the forum as the rest said. You are in a great starting point posting here . You will have alot of support as you go on your journey to beat dental fear. You absolutely have what it takes, you desire to beat it and are searching. Really sorry about about your tooth breaking in half ! I have had a few of those and its scary, and especially if you haven't been in a while.

Do you have a dentist you have in mind? I encourage you to look for practices that are anxious friendly , you can get a general feeling on their webpages and social media . You can also email or FB and ask them how they deal with anxious patients and see how compassionate they are.

Now you may not have alot of time to try to look with half a missing tooth. But I encourage you when making an appt to let them know of anxiety and its been a while the more we communicate the more they can help you! I hope you get in somewhere that will treat you kindly soon to take care of that.
 
I have researched and making an appointment today. Thanks for your advice. It's more of being embarrassed more than anything.
 
I have researched and making an appointment today. Thanks for your advice. It's more of being embarrassed more than anything.

Well done. Hope they were nice on the phone. Dentists are really used to people who haven't been for decades and honestly, it doesn't even play much role, the important part is the state of your mouth and how to get you the treatment you need. All the best wishes and keep us posted.
 
Steven,

Glad you made the appointment and hope they will be good and kind to you! Let us know how it goes! I do know there are alot of compassionate dentists out there that really care and want you to feel comfortable .
 
Good luck Stephen. We are all routing for you! Simon
 
Thank you. 22nd of July is my dreaded appointment but am sure I'll get through it.
 
I just saw a beautiful successful woman who hasn't been in 20 years. She wasn't too bad. I don't think any teeth will be lost except for one due to trauma years ago.
 
You are not going to get through it.

You are going to do much more: you are going to surprise everyone, and none more than yourself.
 
I just saw a beautiful successful woman who hasn't been in 20 years. She wasn't too bad. I don't think any teeth will be lost except for one due to trauma years ago.

SO I treated her today and she did wonderful. I actually mean wonderful. We now have no worries about future appointments. Now I will add that the first appointment was about 90 minutes long. Most of that time was getting to know each other so that treatment would go smoothly. After all how can you relax if don't know each other?
 
Yes! No small thing. Speaks to how well you schedule too, I suspect.
 
Would love to meet you one day Mugz
 
Be careful what you wish for. I'm a handful. ?
 
I’m not trying to be snarky and sincerely appreciate your willingness to meet me. In the last 4 years have been politely referred away or asked not to return by 5 dentists, 2 endodontists and 1 oral surgeon. I wasn't rude or disrespectful and paid for everything up front. I was just beyond the scope of what they could handle without effective sedation and cost them more with the time it took to treat me.
 
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