• 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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No more fear - Job done :)

A

AlexEssex

Junior member
Joined
Jan 7, 2022
Messages
16
Location
United Kingdom
After 8 weeks, 4 appointments, 6 extractions and a clean up. I can now confidently say that I am cured of dental phobia. Over the last 8 weeks I have overcome my fear of dental needles, the dental syringe, the smell of the dentist and all negative associations that have nerved me of the dentist.

So how have I overcome all this fear so quickly from being a nervous wreck to completing my treatment plan?

Well, firstly, going to a recommended dentist is number one here. A dentist has a good reputation when it excels and the patients talk positively of their experience.

Secondly....just go....just turn up, its that simple, as scared as you may be, the only way that a dentist can have a look at your teeth is if you actually turn up (unless they can do it over zoom now?).

Thirdly, trust the dentist, they know their stuff, they are super duper trained in their profession, they studied long and hard for this and they practice dentistry day in day out, its in their blood as you could call it. They are very used to nervous patients, its a big part of their clientelle, and their clients mean everything to them, not put fear into them. They want you to tell everyone how good they are and spread the word. Reputation is everything in dentistry and they really want to give you a great experience. They want to be gentle, pain free to the best of their ability and give you a good experience and healthy smile. So please trust your good dentist, they are good for a reason.

Now, if like me, you are scared of dental needles, and syringes, I can tell you my positive experience now....the pain you think you will feel is simply not there. Its a sensation and a feeling, but not pain. In my past nightmares during sleep that i had of getting my teeth pulled in the dental chair, I can honestly say that the pain of the needle does not exist. Your brain is telling you its there, your expecting it....but....it doesnt exist. Its not pain, its a feeling, it doesnt hurt, the dentist doesnt want to hurt you or be in pain. Im sorry if ive revealed the secret here, but i have to tell you that its all in the head. If you can get through the thought of the shots that dont hurt and have them, then the sence of liberation is amazing, you will feel so proud of this accomplishment of enduring shots that do not cause pain.

Then the treatment can really begin, also the smell of the dentist dissapears, you start to feel in control again, you start to question what the fear was, you are cooperative and the dentist can really work on your oral health and give you that great experience you deserve. The pulling and the drilling and all the sounds you here suddenly become irrelevent to you, because you can boss this now, your in control and your the one taking charge of your health. You may be numb from the anaesthetic but that anae is pure magic for the hours it lasts, it goes away eventually for sure but that anae is the best, you really need that stuff, it gives you your oral health back, it lets treatment begin and takes away all the pain that not having it would give you.

So honestly, when the dentist starts the shots then i am soo thankful for its invention and the painless methods how its delivered. I could also call my dentist a magician because he delivered shots that i never knew he was giving, he was tricking my mind into thinking i was only feeling my gum being wiggled, when in fact he was delivering half a cartridge of anae into my palate and i never knew he was doing it. There are soo many tricks that he does, from blowing cold air onto a spot on the gum while injecting (this is clever because you only feel the cold sensation and not the needle), another trick was the pressure of an instrument pressing o. my gum, all i could feel was the instrument and not the needle. I have to say that these dentists are really illusionists at work and its amazing how they do this, and you dont even know they are doing it (thats the mind blowing part of it). Dental needles are sooo freeking sharp that you dont feel them, by the time pain should be felt by the sharpness of the needle, the anaesthetic has already numbed the first layer of tissue that it just pierced, again, very clever indeed, because you dont feel any pain.

So, I get it, I really do now, the pain in my head does not exist, my dentist gave me pain free injections and I have nothing to fear. Why did i fear the aneasthetic that took away the pain in the first place? I have no idea why? My mind is now baffled as to why I feared injections in the mouth. I can honestly say that I would take injections in the mouth any day over injections in my skin or blood tests. I visited the dentist 3 times for treatment, ok, i was a little nervous for my second treatment just incase my first session was just a pain free fluke. But, the 2nd session, again....no pain....the 3rd visit I almost threw myself in the dental chair....i was like "lets get this show on the road" and smiling. I was happy to be there, I really was!

I fully apreciate that everyone has had different experiences in the past that has affected the badly and has cause fear and ptsd, but honesly if you go to a good dentist with a good reputation that listens to you and respects you as a nervous patient then you have nothing to worry about. I know everyone has different perceptions and thresholds of pain, but I cant say that it was pain that I felt, it was a sensation and a feeling but definitely not pain....I AM CURED! Next visit in 6 months time, my treatment plan is complete!
 
@AlexEssex well done! did you take anything to help you? Where is your dentist xx
 
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