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Nervous but hopeful

  • Thread starter Thread starter Determinedtogetbetter
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Determinedtogetbetter

Junior member
Joined
Jan 29, 2025
Messages
3
Location
Oregon, USA
I have lurked on this forum on and off for about 5 years. I developed my dental phobia more out of shame and embarrassment than any bad experience. I also suffer from severe medical phobia. I get very anxious and if I have my pulse or blood pressure taken it’s always quite high due to white coat syndrome. Long story short I’m very self conscious and embarrassed about that to the point I started avoiding doctors and dentists.

Due to the avoidance I started to develop a lot of tartar/calculus behind my front teeth where I have a permanent retainer. The shame I felt as it got worse made me avoid the dentist even more. It became a vicious cycle. My bite has also shifted due to grinding and clenching. It has gotten to the point where between the calculus and bite, I have trouble eating a lot of food and have to break everything into tiny bites. My bottom front teeth have developed so much calculus it’s basically as bad or worse than what you see if you search worse calculus ever online. I wish I was exaggerating.

I never told anyone what I was experiencing. Not my partner or any family or friends. I have suffered alone with this to the point that I think about my mouth all the time, every single day. I’ve been so depressed at times I thought I’d rather not live than have to come to terms with this. I truly thought I would never be able to get better and get help.

A couple of weeks ago a part of the calculus chunk on my teeth started to break. It caused me so much stress that something in me broke that day too. I contacted a dentist who said they specialize in dental fear by email, writing the message in tears and hit send before I could change my mind.

Yesterday I went for a meet and greet which turned into a consultation and X-rays. At this point they think I can still turn things around. I have a lot of work to do but we’re starting with a scale and root plane next week! I’m scared but for the first time in such a long time I feel hopeful. I don’t want to live half a life anymore and I’m trying my hardest to force myself through. I haven’t had any work done yet but after getting through the first step of just contacting a dentist, turning up to the appointment and showing them my mouth I feel more hopeful than I have in a long long time.

Very long story short, thank you to everyone who shares on here. Reading your success stories and sharing your fears has kept me going and helped me feel less alone. I hope to share another positive story after they start the actual work to get my smile back. We all deserve to smile.
 
I made it through my deep cleaning procedure this morning. My anxiety was very high and as I also have a phobia of having my blood pressure taken it was extremely high. They took it several times which did not help me calm down but the procedure itself went better than I expected. Honestly given my before picture I was so scared of what would happen when they removed the calculus and what it would look like. At the end they said one of my bottom front teeth was very loose. I’m upset and worried about it but they are planning to bond it and hopefully that will stabilize it. After ten years of fear and stress I’m really worn out now but also so proud of myself of making it through this first major step.
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Wow, what a transformation 🤩!!! Congratulations @Determinedtogetbetter - you must be so proud of yourself 😊. Keeping my fingers crossed that the loose front tooth can be stabilised! Thanks so much for sharing!
 
I am, thank you 😊 it’s going to be a bit of a journey to get my mouth completely healthy but feeling really proud that I’ve finally taken the first steps. I can’t believe I posted the before picture 😱 but I hope it can help someone else see that there is hope.
 
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