• Dental Phobia Support

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letsconnect

letsconnect

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In recent times, the "Your Dentistry Questions Answered" section of the forum seems to have drifted away a bit from a phobic resource into a more general dental question and answer site. A fair percentage of the questions seem to not really be phobic related.

I would like to remind everyone that this forum was designed to answer dental fear/phobia related questions (this *may* include general questions if you are also seeking support here and they help you with making good treatment decisions). It wasn't set up as a general dentistry forum, however.

If you'd like to discuss general dental questions, please check out the forums on this page:


We especially recommend the Dentalminds Dental Forum [broken link removed] (where you can meet up with Zzz :drool:!!)

Thanks everyone for your co-operation :)!
 
Oooh your place or mine - it's all good. :innocent:
The welcome mat is always there! :welcome:
 
I'm guilty of this and will try to be more careful in the future!

Thanks for the reminder.
 
somebody here oral surgeon that could give me a second opinion about a wisdom tooth? i can email x-rays. thx
 
I'm sure zz lured me here from a general dental questions forum..... the said general dental questions forum was then hacked into and taken over by some rogue porn application.

It's very valuable to have a section on general dental questions in a phobic forum because most people who are phobic just want reassurance that the problem they are having is not as big a deal as they are making it out to be.

Dental phobia is not just fear of going to see a dentist. In my case it's specifically related to having cosmetic work done (not the actual act of sitting in the dentists chair, but having to cope with the changes), in other people's cases they are frightened of having wisdom teeth out or just need someone to tell them it's ok.
 
I am so sorry. I have been asking a lot of dental questions, probably to ease my fears. I won't do this anymore....sorry again
 
I suppose Letsconnect was talking about people who register to this forum, ask one general dental question here and never come back. They don't have dental phobia. I think we regular users are, and at least should be, allowed to ask all kinds of dental questions here. I think Lets made it pretty clear that people who also write in the Support section can ask here.
 
I suppose Letsconnect was talking about people who register to this forum, ask one general dental question here and never come back. They don't have dental phobia. I think we regular users are, and at least should be, allowed to ask all kinds of dental questions here. I think Lets made it pretty clear that people who also write in the Support section can ask here.

Yes, I do think that people who have genuine phobias/fears should be able to ask more general questions here if it helps them with their "recovery" (for want of a better word). However, increasingly, there have been posts which would probably be better off in a general dental forum.

A big consideration in all this is that we don't have all that many dentists to answer questions here. I do have to take into account their workload - they're not being paid to be here, and their area of interest is dental phobia (apart from Zzz, who also runs a general dental questions forum at dentalminds).

We've had this problem in the past and in an effort to cut down on these phobia-unrelated posts, I had to delete posts which may have been posted by people with genuine phobia/fears. But it can be hard to make this distinction when nothing in a post suggests that the poster has a real fear. On one or two occasions, this resulted in me receiving hate mail from people whose posts had been deleted.

One alternative would be to establish a separate Dental Questions board and rename this one "Ask a Dentist". The more general questions which are phobia-unrelated could be moved there, allowing other people on this forum to add their input. They would also be replied to with a standard text which directs them to other dental questions forums. This would also allow first-time posters who are genuinely scared to explain their fears a bit more, in which case their question could simply be moved back into the Ask a Dentist section.

This would eliminate the problem of deleting posts which the (non-phobic) poster has spent some time to compose - they could then simply copy and paste their post and re-post it in a more general dentistry questions forum elsewhere.

What does everyone think of this suggestion?
 
I think you will have great difficulty distinguishing the phobic from non phobic questions. For example you've just had an apology from babyblue but clearly it was her phobia that led her to post. I guess having to go to another forum is a bit like me being told I can't pay for womenswear in the handbags section of a department store recently (they managed to put it through when I said I'd rather leave it then go back upstairs).

My way of dealing with my own phobia is to learn as much as I can about the subject and talk about it to others. Bad dentistry has had a major effect on my life and still causes me anxiety (even though to others my teeth are fine). Clearly I do have a phobia problem (only last year I was taking time off to deal with my anxiety after treatment) and to be able to discuss it here is a form of therapy. It's also a good place to learn more.

I'm sure others who post feel the need for reassurance too. My major traumas have been in situations where a dentist has done things to my teeth without explaining it to me first. So it's a great comfort to be able to have a place to talk about all the different aspects of dentistry. It's also very educational.

It's not always necessary for a dentist to answer all posts because other users who have had similar experiences can often reassure each other.

I think this forum is a great resource for anyone who has dental anxiety. It's popularity is a sign that there is a great need for such an outlet. I think the dentists here do a great job in giving the profession a really good name and changing the minds of many people who suffer in silence because they are scared that their dental problems cannot be fixed.
 
I think it is a good idea, but it would probably need clarification of what exactly falls into each catagory.:cheers:
 
I think then that the subtitle for this forum should say 'Ask your phobia-related, dentistry questions here! Etc...'

Honestly, I thought it was for all sorts of dentistry questions, simply because of the forum title. My bad!
 
I think then that the subtitle for this forum should say 'Ask your phobia-related, dentistry questions here! Etc...'

Honestly, I thought it was for all sorts of dentistry questions, simply because of the forum title. My bad!

My take always was that it was indeed for general questions from phobics or ex-phobics...Doomflower you do fall into that category.

I think someone obviously getting regular care, who parachutes in and NO1 question is a general dentistry one is quite easy to spot, I have noticed about half a dozen recently.

I think the simplest solution would be for moderators to simply transfer them to ZZZ's forum. Anything else is too complex. Need a simple technical way to achieve this.

Letsconnect, I don't know if you are seeking to change the rules here a bit because I also remember it being stated that those who post in support of others are sort of more entitled to post general stuff on their own behalf.

Not being a full-blown phobic myself (but having an impressive collection of bad dental experiences and good ones behind me)...I actually have come to the conclusion that any dental patient can suddenly find their anxiety increased as something fails to go to plan....a rough hygienist, a tooth which fails to go numb etc etc .....I do believe with the wrong dentist we are all vulnerable especially in the cosmetic department as Annie says. UK NHS patients are vulnerable to non-UK trained inexperienced dentists who can barely communicate adequately in some cases.
In short I think it is a fine line and moderators would best just move the questions/posters they feel don't belong here to ZZZdentist.(assuming he doesn't mind)...would the simplest be to say...please re-post this here (link to ZZZ) and leave it to them? Maybe that would get untidy.
 
An interesting discussion here.
There are certainly issues with getting bogged down with questions from people who have perhaps not had the responses they were hoping for on other forums who give us a try. However, as has been said- it can be hard to spot at times.
It can be very difficult or impossible to identify emotion behind the written word- especially with posts or emails, texts etc. It is actually a common cause of mis-communication.
As we all know dental anxiety, fear and phobia can affect everyone differently and to different degrees. It is very hard to quantify. An anxious patient may find that they write a short message, asking about a specific treatment which concerns them, or perhaps they don't understand- but to the reader- it may seem that they are not anxious.
My concern is that we may disaude genuine posters who feel that they don't want to waste our time.
I for one would rather think that I was answering a few posts to people who may not be anxious, than miss one genuine one.
It is a difficult problem and it will be interesting to hear what suggestions people come up with.
Perhaps a more obvious link to dentalminds.com would be a start. Would it be possible to create a new section called "Your General Dentistry Questions Answered"- and in this section just have a description of Dentalminds.com and link. A bit like the intro section- this section could be made so that it is impossible to post replies or new threads under this heading.
The current section "Your Dentistry Questions Answered"- could be renamed to something like- "Your Fear of Dentistry Questions Answered"
What do you think?
Dr Mike
 
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I have to admit, I also thought that this section was for general dentistry questions (I have posted a few myself) It is not very clear, the name of this section "Your Dentistry Questions Answered" sounds to me that if you are a member of this forum, you could ask a general dentistry question. I guess I'm agreeing with DrMike.
I am a phobic but sometimes a dental question comes up and it is nice to have "a safe haven" to have them answered. The dentists here KNOW this is a dental phobia forum so I think they word their answers in deference to us phobics.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth!
Take care,
Jen
 
I am a phobic but sometimes a dental question comes up and it is nice to have "a safe haven" to have them answered. The dentists here KNOW this is a dental phobia forum so I think they word their answers in deference to us phobics.

Safe haven is a perfect way to describe it. I guess it's also very apt for a dental phobia forum. Other dental forums are not as warm and cuddly as this one.:grouphug:
 
Perhaps a more obvious link to dentalminds.com would be a start. Would it be possible to create a new section called "Your General Dentistry Questions Answered"- and in this section just have a description of Dentalminds.com and link. A bit like the intro section- this section could be made so that it is impossible to post replies or new threads under this heading.
The current section "Your Dentistry Questions Answered"- could be renamed to something like- "Your Fear of Dentistry Questions Answered"
What do you think?

That's a really good suggestion - we could try it for a while and see if it works?
My main concerns are:
(a) keeping the forum "on track" and keeping it phobic-friendly. I sometimes worry that the sheer volume of dentistry questions may steer the forum away from what it was originally set up to do - that is, helping people who are so scared that they find the very thought of seeing a dentist terrifying. A general dentistry section may be way too advanced/ scary for this group of readers/members. Also, people tend to post here "when things go wrong", which may give the false impression that things often go wrong, when most dentistry is very routine. But I realise that people are at different stages and/or have different concerns which are different from the primary target group.

(b) I'm worried about the amount of workload on the dentists who are willing to donate their spare time to answer questions here.

I don't think there is an easy answer to this - but a big thank you to everyone who is giving their feedback on this issue :)! It's good to know that this section of the forum is perceived as "a safe haven" and "warm and cuddly" :grouphug:.

Please don't hesitate to contribute your thoughts/ideas on the topic - it's an ongoing issue and it would be good to know what people think :)!
 
I'm sure zz lured me here from a general dental questions forum..... the said general dental questions forum was then hacked into and taken over by some rogue porn application...

:whistle: I do like the sound of luring innocent women in my grand seductive scheme of things, but I merely suggested that you come here to explore your inner phobias and purely to save you from the porn onslaught that I sensed was approaching. :innocent: You can thank me later with provocative pictures in private if you so wish. ;)

Regarding the hullabaloo about divying up general dentistry questions from general phobia dental questions, I'm not so sure it's all that necessary at this point and agree that it could be difficult to clearly categorize. It looks as if people are doing pretty good as things are with the range of questions here and their phobias, but it's certainly your judgement call there, LC. :respect: You know your membership best. I do see your point that some of the material here can get a bit down and dirty um dentistry-wise :innocent: so some posts can be inadvertantly alarming rather than reassuring.

BTW, there's no need to be hatin' LC with mean PM's as she's a truly lovely person (she's quite hot in a skimpy bikini too!) and has been gracious enough to provide this free forum for the benefit of the public. Ahh about the bikini part, um, maybe that was more in my imagination than reality, but I digress. Ahem. :redface:

Although it sounds like a fab idea, the possibility of lots and lots of people rushing on over to Dentalminds for dental help is juuust sliiiiightly worrisome as the number of dentists there (1 - me) are much less than the number here (2.5 - G, M, and .05 Zzz) unfortunately. Sometimes it's difficult to get to some questions in a reasonable amount of time so it's nice to have Master Gordon and Sir Mike to man the battlefront. Also, believe it or not, there are many dental areas (sedation, dental implants, etc) that I am not knowledgeable in so the other dentists here do fill in the gaps more often than not when I'm like wha? :confused:

The welcome mat is always out at Dentalminds certainly, and anyone is free to post their questions there.
 
I know what really would be awful to behold...and that is non-phobics dressing up their general dentistry questions to appear as if they are phobic....:o imagine what horrific things they would make up.

I think those in the early stages tend to stay in support don't they...where the dentists fear to tread ? Then they advance to the Dentistry Section as they start treatment and want to double check things they have been told.
Gordon often refers people posting fear-type questions to 'support' so I think he prefers to stick to technical dentistry questions (from anxious/phobic/recovered) people.

I know what you are saying about non-phobics posting here 'when sth goes wrong' and so this could give a skewed impression but everyone I know has had at least one bad dental experience so I think the message that the choice of practitioner is key is actually doing people a service...after all dentists are very careful where they go for their own treatment.
This is a view I have only held in the last 4 years since having a run of bad adult experiences in an EU country.....after 30 plus years of good UK adult ones. My childhood UK ones were mainly outrageously awful.
 
I have been deeply distressed by my past dental diagnosis earlier this year and, even though I don't consider myself a phobic, I have found this and the dentalminds.com site very helpful and comforting.

This site may be firstly intended for phobic patients, but all I can say is that you've hit the mark even for the non phobics.

If anything, I would think that the combination of incredible consistent support, thoughtful professional advice and great sense of humour may have actually even prevented a few people from possibly turning into phobics down the line.

Having dental woes without being an actual phobic was hard enough for me, so I can't imagine what somebody with one or several phobias must be going through, but IMHO those who come on here - pobics or not - and ask for help and support, as varied as the topics may have gotten, as scary as some of the questions that have been raised, even with the seemingly multiple off-topics ;) , they have never left "empty handed". There seems to always be some words of encouragement from somebody, some advice, some suggestion and that is pretty amazing. :)
 
I can understand Zzz's concerns about getting too many posts to deal with on his own at dentalminds- without Gordon and Zzz, I could never commit to having full responsibility to answer all the questions here. It's great to be able to just log on from time to time and answer anything that hasn't been addressed yet. So I can understand LC's concerns that if for any reason the support from one or two of the dentists for whatever reason decreased- it would make it difficult for the others.

Perhaps something which would help would be one or two more friendly dentists?
Even if they were only to help out from time to time, or if any of the regulars were on holiday (not that that happens very often sadly)- or are away lecturing or presenting (more likely), just bogged down at work (much more likely!) or in trouble with their wifes for being glued to their laptop for hours in the evening rather than enjoying some fun family pursuits or bathing the baby (almost daily!!!).

If you think it would help ease the 'burden'- I can ask a few of my colleagues who have an interest in dental anxiety management if they would be prepared to respond to the occasional post- or to be 'on-call' for any time we are down a man!

Kind regards

Sir Mike

(Zzz- I like the sound of 'Sir Mike' in your last post- but don't think the Queen dishes out honours for services to teeth. Nevermind- guess I'll stick to Dr Mike!)

Dr Mike
 

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