K
Kant
Junior member
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2011
- Messages
- 1
I've been lurking these forums for quite some time now and finally decided to join. Long story short, I went to the dentist over a year ago for the first time in 5+ years and he discovered two bottom-right molars that, at that time, he couldn't tell if they needed root canals or not. I, being too afraid to go back and let him open them up to find out, let them go...until about a month ago when I found that I couldn't chew hard foods anymore without severe pain. I figured it was time to cowboy up and face my fears and get this taken care of.
I went to the dentist sometime in early November and had new x-rays taken. They are pretty certain that those two molars do need root canals. When the dentist came in to examine my mouth I absolutely panicked on the chair. After about 5 seconds of him having the pick in my mouth I screamed so loudly that I choked and hurt my throat, grabbed his hands and pulled them out of my mouth, sat up, thrashed at everything in my reach, and continued screaming and hyperventilating for a good five minutes. My fiance took me home and on the way to the car I was crying so hard he practically had to carry me, I could hardly stand or walk. I spent the rest of the day in bed weeping, and cried myself to sleep the next two nights.
I was referred to a dentist who uses relaxation techniques to help her patients calm down (for many reasons I cannot/will not take any antianxiety meds...I find them all to be extremely triggering to my depression and other issues), and made an appointment with her for this Friday, December 9th. However, I knew that this appointment would be useless if I didn't get my phobia in check beforehand. So I've been seeing a therapist for the past month, twice a week, to help with my dental anxieties.
And let me tell you...it has been AMAZING. She has been having me do relaxation/visualization techniques every week, and I practice every night. She also got me over my fear of flossing (I never flossed because I feared excruciating pain)...the first time I successfully flossed my entire mouth with little to no pain or bleeding, I actually cried I was so happy and proud of myself. I've flossed once a day every day since then (about three weeks).
I am feeling cautiously optimistic about my root canal on Friday. I've been doing amazingly in my visualization exercises (she takes me through an entire root canal procedure in my mind's eye and has me hold my hand up if I get too scared of anything...for the past two appointments I haven't had to hold my hand up once!) and I am feeling confident that I can handle the real thing, but I'm also afraid of the real thing being, well, real. I know it's going to be different than my visualizations simply because there will be sights and sounds and smells that trigger my brain to realize: I am AT the ACTUAL DENTIST right now, not sitting on a cozy therapist's couch. But the fact that my new dentist is known for using her relaxation techniques and I've been told that her office is as little like a dentist's office as possible, makes me feel better about it.
So, anyway, I'm rambling now. Just wanted to introduce myself and share my story, and ask for support -- encouragement from others, even strangers on the internet, is incredibly helpful to me
I went to the dentist sometime in early November and had new x-rays taken. They are pretty certain that those two molars do need root canals. When the dentist came in to examine my mouth I absolutely panicked on the chair. After about 5 seconds of him having the pick in my mouth I screamed so loudly that I choked and hurt my throat, grabbed his hands and pulled them out of my mouth, sat up, thrashed at everything in my reach, and continued screaming and hyperventilating for a good five minutes. My fiance took me home and on the way to the car I was crying so hard he practically had to carry me, I could hardly stand or walk. I spent the rest of the day in bed weeping, and cried myself to sleep the next two nights.
I was referred to a dentist who uses relaxation techniques to help her patients calm down (for many reasons I cannot/will not take any antianxiety meds...I find them all to be extremely triggering to my depression and other issues), and made an appointment with her for this Friday, December 9th. However, I knew that this appointment would be useless if I didn't get my phobia in check beforehand. So I've been seeing a therapist for the past month, twice a week, to help with my dental anxieties.
And let me tell you...it has been AMAZING. She has been having me do relaxation/visualization techniques every week, and I practice every night. She also got me over my fear of flossing (I never flossed because I feared excruciating pain)...the first time I successfully flossed my entire mouth with little to no pain or bleeding, I actually cried I was so happy and proud of myself. I've flossed once a day every day since then (about three weeks).
I am feeling cautiously optimistic about my root canal on Friday. I've been doing amazingly in my visualization exercises (she takes me through an entire root canal procedure in my mind's eye and has me hold my hand up if I get too scared of anything...for the past two appointments I haven't had to hold my hand up once!) and I am feeling confident that I can handle the real thing, but I'm also afraid of the real thing being, well, real. I know it's going to be different than my visualizations simply because there will be sights and sounds and smells that trigger my brain to realize: I am AT the ACTUAL DENTIST right now, not sitting on a cozy therapist's couch. But the fact that my new dentist is known for using her relaxation techniques and I've been told that her office is as little like a dentist's office as possible, makes me feel better about it.
So, anyway, I'm rambling now. Just wanted to introduce myself and share my story, and ask for support -- encouragement from others, even strangers on the internet, is incredibly helpful to me
