• 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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Just can’t do it

C

Cheri

Junior member
Joined
Mar 11, 2023
Messages
4
Location
Montreal
Hi all
I’m Canadian,I have dental phobia due to an assault. I have been trying to work threw this for 19 years ,yup that long without dental care . I can actually go into an office now (for my kids)
I just can’t seem to pick up the phone for myself ,it terrifies me to start asking the questions I need answered before hand also that first visit .I have honestly even thought about hiring someone to make the calls for me ,ridiculous I’m 51 …. I’m having some issues now ,back molars and jaw bone …. I live in Quebec and the language issues here definitely do not help !!!! I just feel lost ,I haven’t smiled in over 20 years ,I cover my mouth when I talk ,I’m embarrassed ashamed of them ,,,there not rotten but they are yellow (ex smoker) also very misaligned Now , I need at least the front top and bottom removed ,I feel like I’m a lot girl with this fear .
 
Hello @Cheri :welcome: To DFC.. You are in the right place, and we are glad you are here!
Sounds like you have made some progress in taking your kids as well as just thinking about it and taking the step of writing here. Every step is a step! Some times it takes a year sometimes 19 and sometimes more. Even if you hire someone to ask questions for you its still a step. When you've been through assault and trauma it really does effect going to dentist and thoughts of anxiety, I tell you from first hand experience it took me years to gain courage. I also know how it is to cover your mouth everytime you talk,

After years of a domestic abuse situation I finally got to the point my teeth were so bad I had medicare and found a young dentist just starting out, I was petrified to say the least. She was my first kind dentist , and she said you shouldn't have to cover your beautiful smile, we are going to help you, and she gained my trust little by little and did. All to say, I believe there are good kind dentists in Canada that can do the same for you. and you can gain trust little by little.

Have you scoped any dentists out you think you'd be interested in to try, are you thinking to go to the ones your kids do? or is it just pediatric?
 
I have scoped out a few ,problem with where I live ,we have language laws and language police ,anglophones are not really treated well which makes this more problematic.I need someone kind and who will speak with me in my own language.Already so hard and this makes it so much worse .Thank you so much for responding.
 
One thing you could do is see where the dentist was trained. If the dentist was trained at McGill University for example, you would have better chances they will speak English with you. Obviously, this also depends on where you live. I would think someone in Montréal would find an English speaking dentist a bit easier compared to someone living outside of the Montréal area.
 
Good advice,I’ll look into that .Thank you
 
@Cheri , agh, sorry you have to go through the language barrier, one more barrier in the dental world. I hope you do find someone kind who speaks your language . :thumbsup::thumbsup: Geos advice will help!!
 
Thank you so much !!!! It’s mostly just Quebec.They say the French language is threatened (it’s not)
 
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