How to stay calm in the dental chair

[conqueringfears]

I have less than 48 hours until my root canal and I am a walking stress ball. I can barely eat or drink. My head hurts a lot and I fillllled to the max with panic. I keep telling myself, I have been here 3 times before. I know what it's like. I have survived it and I will again but my mind is polluted with fears.

Do any of you have tips and tricks to keep me calm in the dental chair? It's hard to lay there with adrenaline rushing through my body (like when my heart is beating fast because of my anxiety or the post injection jitters I get sometimes.) I just can't wait for this to be over. any advice helps.

 

[Ladydi1724]

Having music play into headphones was huge for me. I played it pretty loud too. LOL. Also I keep my eyes shut the entire time. Worked for me.

 

[conqueringfears]

@Ladydi1724 I will definitely take headphones! Keeping my eyes closed sounds like a good idea too. Thank you!

 

[Mikey Boy]

I found that by sitting outside listening to music an hour before the appointment really helped me although I would take my earbuds with me if I were you it will help

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Conqueringfears..

ohh.. I so know the feelinlg and hopefully each time gets a little better but still hard not to be anxious at times. I have found , now just to journal before, and write here , just a quick, hey I'm leaving or I'm in the waiting room, and people respond if there are people on and its like you have a cheer team that understands. I've found it very comforting. On another note. I heard of a breathing technique breath in 4 hold for 4 and breath out 8 . at first i though it was like how is breathing going to REALLY help with all this anxiety but it really does . We are here for all the long the way I know that is what helps me! Let us know how it goes

 

[conqueringfears]

@mikey boy thanks so much!

 

[conqueringfears]

@krlovesherkids777 I appreciate your comment so much. Thank you!

 

[letsconnect]

Some of the tips on this page have already been mentioned here, but there might be some others which are of use:

Tips From Dental Phobics

Top tips for overcoming dental phobia - from dental phobics, for dental phobics! Find out what has worked for our readers and forum members.

www.dentalfearcentral.org

Definitely make sure you have a stop signal worked out with your dentist

Wishing you all the best for tomorrow

 

[conqueringfears]

@letsconnect Thanks so much!

 

[Mikey Boy]

Please let me know how you’re procedure goes I need 4 root canals done in the future and I’m kind of nervous about it and would like to know what it’s like

 

[conqueringfears]

@mikey boy Hi Mikey! So I got in and was so nervous. I honestly accepted my anxiety and kept telling myself that I would be just fine, I had to get through it.

I walked into the office with tears and all. I was totally panicked BUT I just sat in the chair. I kept telling myself I am already here, let's just do it. They applied some topical gel and then gave me 2 numbing injections. I waited about 10 minutes until they came to check back on me. During the 10 minutes my nerves returned and I felt nauseous, but I splashed some cold water on my face in the restroom.

They checked the tooth with a cold test (actually tasted really good, like mint vanilla.) I still had some feeling so they went in and did one more injection. After that they started to work. Upon the first bit of drilling, I had some sensation so he did one more longer injection. None of them hurt, the 4th had the slightest pinch. They went to work and there were some smells of bleach, sort of a smoky smell from the drill and nothing more. It wasn't that loud. It was done in about 35-50 minutes. No pain. Nothing crazy. No head jerking or roughness. It was so seamless. I was shocked. They too an X-Ray to make sure the filling was all the way in and then they filled it with some temp filling. Next step is a crown at my regular dentists office.

Make sure you feel comfortable with the dentist you go to. That was key for my success today. A song started playing on the radio "Bad to the Bone" and he told me "Hey, you are bad to the bone!" I faced my fears crying and laughing at the same time. It's so funny how our minds scare us. I was so scared of the what ifs, none of which happened. I anticipated the worst in that hour of my life and I survived it. It's such a short amount of time compared to so many hours feeling good and healthy. I have spent so much time this last week feeling petrified, crying, not eating, all for nothing. I checked my heart rate and it was 150BPM at one point, I was soooo scared, but even at that I kept saying I am okay, I am here, it will be over soon. And that it was!

When you go, take music with you, a friend if you can (if you can't that's okay too.) I even took a damp cloth with me. I also held a pillow and squeezed it whenever I got scared. Overall, 3/10 on the pain scale, 10/10 on the nerves scale, but I did it and so can you! you've got this!

 

[Mikey Boy]

@mikey boy Hi Mikey! So I got in and was so nervous. I honestly accepted my anxiety and kept telling myself that I would be just fine, I had to get through it.

I walked into the office with tears and all. I was totally panicked BUT I just sat in the chair. I kept telling myself I am already here, let's just do it. They applied some topical gel and then gave me 2 numbing injections. I waited about 10 minutes until they came to check back on me. During the 10 minutes my nerves returned and I felt nauseous, but I splashed some cold water on my face in the restroom.

They checked the tooth with a cold test (actually tasted really good, like mint vanilla.) I still had some feeling so they went in and did one more injection. After that they started to work. Upon the first bit of drilling, I had some sensation so he did one more longer injection. None of them hurt, the 4th had the slightest pinch. They went to work and there were some smells of bleach, sort of a smoky smell from the drill and nothing more. It wasn't that loud. It was done in about 35-50 minutes. No pain. Nothing crazy. No head jerking or roughness. It was so seamless. I was shocked. They too an X-Ray to make sure the filling was all the way in and then they filled it with some temp filling. Next step is a crown at my regular dentists office.

Make sure you feel comfortable with the dentist you go to. That was key for my success today. A song started playing on the radio "Bad to the Bone" and he told me "Hey, you are bad to the bone!" I faced my fears crying and laughing at the same time. It's so funny how our minds scare us. I was so scared of the what ifs, none of which happened. I anticipated the worst in that hour of my life and I survived it. It's such a short amount of time compared to so many hours feeling good and healthy. I have spent so much time this last week feeling petrified, crying, not eating, all for nothing. I checked my heart rate and it was 150BPM at one point, I was soooo scared, but even at that I kept saying I am okay, I am here, it will be over soon. And that it was!

When you go, take music with you, a friend if you can (if you can't that's okay too.) I even took a damp cloth with me. I also held a pillow and squeezed it whenever I got scared. Overall, 3/10 on the pain scale, 10/10 on the nerves scale, but I did it and so can you! you've got this!

Thank you so much for replying to me I really appreciate it I mean I’m not even at that step in my journey yet but I’ve been really nervous about it thank you

 

[mariyam]

@conqueringfears omg I was in panic mode tears when I started reading this and it's sort of subsided now. Thank you for your post.