• Dental Phobia Support

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I did it! After 16 years I actually went to the dentist!!

S

soscared1

Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2011
Messages
23
Location
sydney
I can't believe I actually did it!! I was booked in for tomorrow ( wed) but I knew they had an appointment free this morning. I confided in my husband last night about just how terrified was and this morning when I woke up, he said " I'm going to stay home and watch T ( our 2 yr old son) and you are going to go to the appointment this morning!" so shaking, I called the dentist and the appointment was still available. So even though I couldn't eat breakfast, I didn't lose any sleep over it because I didn't know I was going until an hour before!
So, it's been 16 yrs since I last went and I have 2 broken, blackish molars and I knew I'd have heaps of other issues... I couldn't even say the word "dentist" until a few days ago... I was so embarrassed about how bad my teeth ate that even though I've had some awful toothaches in the past 10 yrs, my fear outweighed my pain..id found my new dentist by googling "dentists who specialize in phobic patients" and even though she was a half hr drive away, it was well worth it... I'd explained in my email how phobic I was and basically prepared her by telling her how bad my teeth were and how frightened I was... So when I got there she ready knew how hard this was for me..... And wow! She was amazing.... We just chatted for 10 mins ( me crying my eyes out) and then she asked if I was comfortable with her having a look... I was shaking and crying but I let her.... She told me that I wS totally in control and if at any time, I wanted to stop, just to hold my hand up and she'd stop... That made me feel so much better just knowing that I was in control... As it turns out, I do need a lot of work- 2 fillings, 2 extractions and a wisdom tooth pulled ( which will need to be done somewhere else under sedation) and one of the teeth that needs a filling may need root canal instead but I stil feel soooo relieved... We talked about options for making my front teeth straighter aswell and also whitening... I'm determined to get a nice smile!!
Today she did one of the fillings and I also had an X ray to see if the other tooth that needs a filling needs root canal instead....( will find out tomorrow) the x ray wasn't that pleasant- I felt like I was going to gag! But the dentist kept me distracted and I was fine. The filling was uncomfortable but not painful... My mouth is still a bit numb now but no pain....
So I have the next 3 appointments booked in and then early in the new year, I have to get that wisdom tooth out which I am a bit worried about but the biggest emotion I feel right now is relief! Relief that the initial embarrassment is over with and also relief that I don't have to have all my teeth extracted!! In fact the dentist said that my teeth were very very clean and that most people who don't go to the dentist for as long as me have much worse teeth and lots of plaque which I don't have at all- so I guess that's good...
Tomorrow I'm going back for a proper clean ( as it's hubby's birthday and we r going out for dinner so I want to be able to eat tomorrow and not have a numb face!) then next week, the extractions begin....
So I just want to say to anyone reading this- it us so true what the other posts say... The first appointment is definitely no where near as bad as what you think it will be... The fear beforehand is way worse.. So if you are reading this and trying to build up the courage to make that appointment- just do it! You will feel so much better afterwards and you'll probably find that things are not as bad as you think..
 
Bravo!!!! I continue to be amazed at the folks who go their first appointment in a long time and actually have work done, either a cleaning or filling etc............. well done. Not really too bad on the amount of work either, only 5 teeth with issues? I'd say you must be cleaning them well, that's great ......sounds like a "good catch" and healthy beginnings.

rp
 
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