• 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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My story of success!

T

Tinydancer

Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2018
Messages
68
I posted this on another part of the forum but I think this was best for here. It's my looong success story ...

I hadn't been to a dentist since I was around 13/14 at school. I'd walk into the playground with my eyes closed praying the NHS dentist van wasn't there ... waiting for me! One day it was there. I hoped when the nurse came to call people from class that if I just slouched in my chair she wouldn't notice me. There was a chap at the class door .... my name was called. I felt sick walking down the school playground to the dental van. I was young I knew they would look at my teeth but didn't think anything else of it. I sat in the chair and the dentist from what I can remember started drilling my teeth. I cried like a baby! I remember her telling me to grow up! This made me worse. I had a sheet to give my mum that she had to sign for me to continue to get more work done with the dental van. I cried and cried and begged my mum to not make me go and she agreed and I never went back again. I was relieved!

Fast forward to my early 20s my back two teeth on one side broke. I always brushed my teeth but I noticed those two deteriorating over the years and eventually I got abscess after abscess. I was in excruciating pain but fought through it and the pain went. Fast forward again to around 6 weeks ago ( i'm 30 now ) I felt that all familiar niggle in my broken tooth. It was happening again the abscess was appearing again. For two nights I rolled around my bedroom floor on agony and in tears with the pain of it. I thought I have to go to the doctors she will give me antibiotics and I can take them and ignore the dentist again. I entered the doctors room she took one look and said you need to see a dentist those teeth are infected and need to come out. I cried and was upset.

I went home and googled for forums for support. I found you guys! For a week before I had my initial dental appt I spoke to people on here and shared my fear and anxiety. You helped me to understand that it what I have is a genuine issue and not just a fear. I went to my dentist and I cried as I sat waiting to be seen, kids around 8/9 stared at me while I sat in tears ... the dental assistant called me through and I was still a mess and explained what was wrong. My dentist reassured me that I would be okay and dentistry has come a long way in 15 years. She looked in my mouth and explained that I needed X-rays and fillings and two extractions. One surgical and one normal extraction. She said because I am a nervous patient she would like to start with fillings and if I couldn't cope well with them she could do it with me sedated. I managed to get three fillings replaced with just being numbed. I felt so proud!

After a few days half of my tooth broke that had been filled so the dentist covered the tooth with more white stuff. It was fine I felt I had done well again. A few days later the stuff she covered my filling with cracked. She told me that I have bruxism and may need a mouth guard, she replaced the missing part again and said I only have about 5% of that tooth left but if it stays okay and the part she replaced stays intact I can have a mouth guard in a few weeks. I got my two teeth extracted three days ago and I was terrified but managed through it. I was shaking from head to toe. The dentist held my shoulders and told me I would be fine she promised! She explained what she was doing and what to expect. The teeth came out fine and it was done.

I couldn't believe I had went from ignoring abscesses and broken teeth and allowing myself to get Into so much pain, to having two teeth extracted, three fillings replaced and one half of the filled tooth replaced, X-rays and scales and polishes all in the space of 4/5 weeks. I truly believe that this forum helped me to do the right thing and proceed to care about my oral health and do something about it before it was too late. I still have a long way to go and I'm sure I will always be worried when I enter the dentist but my initial fear has gone. I hope that the tooth she fixed Holds out and I don't need root canal treatment and a crown, she said if the tooth crack again this is what will need to be done to save the tooth rather than extracting it ( I don't want to loose anymore teeth). All I want to say is thank you to everyone who has helped me on this journey, and that no matter what always look after your teeth they need to last us for a long time and there's nothing better than having a beautiful smile ?

Thanks for reading my story

Sam x
 
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Awesome! I’m proud of you! Going through dental work with fear and anxiety is something to be very proud of.
 
Thank you! It's nice to be able to post a success story I always thought I'd never ever get to this point
 
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