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on my way to beating life long fear

M

merlin82

Junior member
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
11
hi guys, i have been looking at the posts on this forum for a while now and it has helped me so much i thought i would share my story to help others out there like myself.
I have a phobia of all medical procedures, dental phobia being one of them. I had not seen a dentist for over 15 years due to bad experiences. During my 2 pregnancies (one in 2007 and one in 2010) i got 2 cracked teeth. During my 1st pregnancy my wisdom tooth crumbled and during my 2nd pregnany one of the molar tooth at the bottom also crumbled away. Due to my fear i didnt do anything about it, just hoped it wouldnt get worse, this has obviously not been the case. My back wisdom tooth has decayed so much that each time i brush it or chew gum it's like terribly smelly pond water that comes from it, this obviously has affected my confidence. In time the bottom one that broke began to give me the most terrible pain that i have never felt before. So i had to gain the strength and think to myself enough is enough. I made the first step in booking my first dental appointment. To be honest, and TRULY honest, so far that first step has been the most daunting. My first visit to the dentist was a month ago. I needed diazepam to calm my nerves, this helped, but still to sit in 'the chair' was terrifying. But that was in my head. I actually sat in the chair whilst my amazing dentist talked through everything calmly with me. He let me go at my own pace, and initially he just got me to open my mouth without him even touching me or going near me with a mirror or a hook. He then took some x rays, and as these are non invasive i was fine with. After about 45 mins i told him he could have a look as he made me feel so much at ease. The examination was completely painless and quick, to be honest my embarressment over my percieved state of my mouth was worse than him looking in it. The news that i dreaded was as bad as i expected, i have to have both teeth out. But no other fillings. We decided it would be best for me to have IV sedation, which i have not yet had, and he wanted me to see the dental hygienist to build my confidence again. So today i saw the hygienist, no diazepam this time. I was anxious but no panick attacks. The hygienist was lovely and very calm and understanding, she did everything at my pace and i felt very much in control. She considered me having a scale and polish whilst i had the sedation to have my teeth removed, but at this point i wanted to face my fear and let her do some work. She polished and scaled my front teeth and i felt nothing, just tickled!! I am going back in 4 weeks for more scaling and i feel fine about it. I am lucky in the fact that although i have to have the 2 teeth removed, the rest are fine just need a good clean up. I am still waiting for my appointment to have my teeth removed, which i am highly anxious about, despite having iv sedation. So far all my fears have been built up over years of phobias, and so far the experience has been very positive. I can not believe i just wrote that seeing as though 4 weeks ago i was in tears with fear and reading the forums on here to get some positive stories, and here i am writing one!!!! The embarressment has also been a huge factor, however they reasured me that i have good teeth and have nothing to be ashamed of. So if you are reading this after years of dental fear then please be reasured by my story. I shall post again when i have my teeth removed x
 
Bravo!

Thanks for sharing....

rp
 
!!!GOOD!!!
!!!GREAT!!!
!!!EXCELLENT!!!
I get so happy for stories like this...and I pray that you'll ultimately end up in the Success forum with RP and me.
Please come back with your final "I beat it" post. It will mean so much to so many!
 
Excellent story and thanks for sharing it!

I haven't had IV sedation for dental work yet (coming up next month!) I had it last year when I needed some reconstructive surgery following an injury to my hand. I was very nervous about it, having had general anesthetic before and not having a good reaction to it, but IV sedation was wonderful!

Although they told me I was awake for the procedure, I remember nothing at all between them turning on the IV and wheeling me out of the operating room when it was all done. I'm sure you will be back here soon, posting about how wonderful IV sedation was and how easily the procedure went, feeling full of relief!! :)
 

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