• 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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i feel so scared and alone

W

Way beyond fear

Junior member
Joined
Dec 15, 2020
Messages
2
Location
Ohio usa
im in ohio and i am disabled and 64 years old. i havent been to a dentist in 30 years because im so scared. i had a very bad experience and i have never gotten over it. now with the coronavirus everything is so much harder. i have goverment insurance and it was hard enough before covid now its impossible. im terrified of getting the virus. right now dentist will only see established patients and fewer dentists are taking medicaid. im having severe pain in my gums and even if i could get the courage to go no dentist will see me. im so scared im shaking and crying just typing this. i havent left my apartment since march and i dont have any contact with anyone since my home health aide quit in august. i get everything delivered. i dont know what to do. i have other health issues which just makes things worse. our governor has issued an order not to go out if your high risk. i am alone and i dont know what to do or how to get dental care and my dental phobia is so bad how could i go if i was lucky enough to find a dentist. to add to my fear i have ask a few friends and they said the medicaid dentists are not following the cdc guidelines. she went to the dentist and the office was filthy, no temperatures taken, no sanitizing and she said the dentist was going from room to room without changing his ppe. how do i deal with this. its making my anxiety and dental phobia so much worse i feel like im going crazy. please help.
 
I'm sorry I have no advice to give as I'm in the UK, but just to say I sympathise, and you have come to the right place here to get help. x
 
Hi Way beyond fear and :welcome:. That sounds like a terribly stressful and difficult situation you're in, not just dentally but also with your home aide quitting and not having contact with people because of the virus ?.

I'm not in the US either, but one of our members, @Dg6300 , has had success with calling 211 and highly recommends it for getting help, or even just finding out what your options might be. It's a free number for all sorts of local community services. Just tell them what you told us. Maybe they can help you get you get the help you need and deserve:grouphug:
 
im in ohio and i am disabled and 64 years old. i havent been to a dentist in 30 years because im so scared. i had a very bad experience and i have never gotten over it. now with the coronavirus everything is so much harder. i have goverment insurance and it was hard enough before covid now its impossible. im terrified of getting the virus. right now dentist will only see established patients and fewer dentists are taking medicaid. im having severe pain in my gums and even if i could get the courage to go no dentist will see me. im so scared im shaking and crying just typing this. i havent left my apartment since march and i dont have any contact with anyone since my home health aide quit in august. i get everything delivered. i dont know what to do. i have other health issues which just makes things worse. our governor has issued an order not to go out if your high risk. i am alone and i dont know what to do or how to get dental care and my dental phobia is so bad how could i go if i was lucky enough to find a dentist. to add to my fear i have ask a few friends and they said the medicaid dentists are not following the cdc guidelines. she went to the dentist and the office was filthy, no temperatures taken, no sanitizing and she said the dentist was going from room to room without changing his ppe. how do i deal with this. its making my anxiety and dental phobia so much worse i feel like im going crazy. please help.
Really sorry to hear about your situation ...thinking of you .... I would give some info if I could but iam in UK unfortunately..... I hope you get help vsoon , I know it's even harder with this virus around
 
Hi Way beyond fear and a warm welcome from me as well. I am glad you reached out here, despite crying and shaking. Things must be so difficult for you right now.. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you to find a way to move forward, maybe with the advice @letsconnect gave you. But, besides that, I just wanted to encourage you to write and vent here if you like, because we are here to listen and the world can be a really lonely place, especially those days. Hope your friends are supportive too as much as they can.
It sounds like writing here was very stressful for you, and I believe first messages here can feel almost as stressful as actually seeing a dentist, but that gets better over time, I promise.
You mentioned severe pain in your gums. Do you have a suspicion as to what is wrong there?
 
I have some rotten teeth and I think I have a gum abscess on the bottom left side. Plus I have a sinus infection.
 
Way Beyond Fear, that's a sad story and terrifying situation you are in. Can you sleep? Does any medication, like Ibuprofen help with the pain?

I wish I could help you, I think most people with severe tooth problems are a bit scared of the future, as you never know what exactly will happen, and it disrupts the normal life. Hard to enjoy life if you're constantly worried about teeth, especially if there's pain.

I got two teeth extracted yesterday - for the first time in my life - and it was a surprisingly.. let's say 'almost pleasant' operation with not much pain involved (the actual teeth extraction had no pain involved, just weird and loud crunching sounds).

It's a bit scary knowing I suddenly have missing teeth, but at the same time, there's a sense of relief that I was finally courageous enough to do this (not that I had much choice..), and that the hurting teeth are gone, and can't hurt me anymore, and my mouth can finally start becoming more healthy (hopefully).

So these things are very much psychological and emotional as well as physical and dental. I don't have any people in my life, either, so this forum has been a divine blessing to me, just reading other people's stories has been helpful when I've felt anxiety or fear.

It's possible I will end up wearing dentures instead of teeth, but I am trying to make peace with that possible future, and am trying to find ways life could still be fun, or at least somewhat enjoyable.

I hope you get help, because your gum pain makes your situation acute and you should get immediate treatment. At least you have friends..

I wish and pray you will get a solution you need, and you can feel harmony and balance again in life.
 
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