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Severe Tooth Ache And Phobia Of Dentists

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GothicQueen

Junior member
Joined
Oct 20, 2015
Messages
3
Hey,
I Have A Serious Phobia That Stems From A Bad Experience When I Was A Child. It Has Lead To Me Not Going Too The Dentist For The Last 16 Years.
I Was Diagnosed With Anxiety In 2009 And Have Been A Sufferer Ever Since.

I'm Now Suffering Daily With Toothache As My Front Teeth Are Rotting Away, This Makes Me Really Embarrassed When Talking Too People And Smiling, I'm Thinking About Just Facing Up Too My Phobia And Having Them Out But As I Don't Have A Dentist I Have No Idea Where Too Start.

I'm Also Wondering If I Could Have New Teeth Immediately Too Replace The Front Teeth That Will Probably Need Too Come Out (The Rot Is So Bad) Because I Couldn't Leave The House If I Had No Front Teeth At All.

Please Help!!!

Thanks In Advance xx
 
Hello GothicQueen & :welcome: to the forum.

Like you I avoided the Dentist for 20+ years due to a childhood trauma, I also suffer from PTSD and anxiety.

Like you I was becoming increasingly embarassed when speaking to people as I had a tooth that had blackened and was quite visible. My advice is that you find the right Dentist to help you, this will not be easy but take your time over it and you will find someone - I did!

I spent most of a day trawling the internet for local Dentists and even looked at some that are further afield (I ruled nothing out).

Make sure you think carefully about what you need and don't be afraid to comunicate with the practice beforehand via phone or email - at first I was too terrified to entertain even going to the Practice to collect literature so got some emailed to me.

Also don't be disheartened if the first one doesn't suit you - the first Practice I visited seemed perfect, it was more like a beauty spa than a Dental Surgery and I was actually really comfortable in the waiting room for the first time ever. I also met a Practice manager rather than a Dentist first and they talked to me about my fears (albeit I admit I was not very forthcoming on detail of this) and then suggested I book in for a 2 hour clean before being assessed by the Dentist. I took the info away to think about it but when I did I thought it was not a good plan, I had told them I avoided the Dentist for 20+ years and they wanted me to go in for a 2 hour session, not a good plan!

So I went to the next place, visited reception to ask them about what happens and they were really positive; they said everything would be bespoke according to my needs so I booked a new patient exam, took a lot of deep breaths and went in. The first meeting was not the best, I was very, very nervous and didn't say much about my phobia but the Dentist did suggest shorter cleaning sessions which I was more comfortable with and went ahead with. I also found the courage to email the Dentist afterwards and explain in a bit more detail what was behind the phobia which they were really good about and it has actually helped a great deal as they understand what kind of things make me nervous.

Also you can get an instant temporary tooth (called a flipper) in the event that the front teeth need to come out, although you may find this isn't needed - I thought I was going to have to have the black tooth extracted but it was saved in the end and my only regret over that is that I didn't try to do something much earlier.

I hope this helps you, I know it isn't easy but honestly taking the time to find the right Dentist for you (and they will be out there) will make a huge difference to overcoming the phobia.
 
Hi GothicQueen, welcome to the forum :)

You are definitely in the right place as most of the folks here are phobic, courtesy of bad experiences similar to yours in the past.

The great news is that dentistry today is totally different from 10+ years ago and we are customers and can take our custom where we choose, most dentists are now kind, caring and gentle professionals with our comfort at the forefront of their priority list and who will go at our pace to get the result we want.

The 1701 is totally correct that the key is to do your research and find a dentist that best matches you, if you get the right dentist it will totally transform the experience for you, having worked with my dentist, Mike for just over 12 months I've found that pretty much anything is possible, I sat through a crown, post and filling re profile recently (1.5 hours in the chair) and have to say it was a breeze compared to past experiences.

It might help to look for a Dental Phobia Certified dentist, these are professionals with special training in dealing with very fearful patients. Whereabouts in the UK are you and are you looking for a private or NHS dentist? (The reviews part of this site is very useful for recommendations).

Hope you are able to summon up the courage to make that first appointment, I'm sure you will be better than fine.

Kind Regards
 
Hey I'm Looking For An NHS Dentist Really And I'm Based In The Blackpool Area
 
The following is from a while ago but might be worth a look:

From the Blackpool Gazette (11 April 2011) :

"Dr Catriona Heyes, from St Annes Dental Clinic (Durham Avenue ST ANNES FY8 2EP), was nominated for the way she helped a patient with a phobia of dentists.

Peter Thompson received two nominations. The panel was struck by the way he had been so patient and understanding with fearful and phobic patients, putting them at their ease."
 
Great you have made the first step.
You want care. Now you need o find the right dentist for you. Obviously you are young so find someone who will be patient with you and whom you can build a trusting relationship.
Finding someone who advertises "sedation dentistry" may be the wrong answer so be careful.
When you read the reviews please read carefully as the right person will have reviews that reflect your needs.
 
Hi GothicQueen,

I can not improve on the advice given by comfortdentist.
It might be an idea to Google some local practices and check out their websites. The email them explaining how you feel. If you get a prompt personal email from any of the dentists, then that is a really good indication that they may be the one for you.
Good luck

Lincoln
 
Finding someone who advertises "sedation dentistry" may be the wrong answer so be careful.

It's interesting that you say that as there is a prevalence for Dentists to offer this, one Practice that I made enquiries with said it was the only way they would treat me, and they hadn't even met met or been told anything about my phobia. The Dentist I finally decided to go with offered it immediately too although they were. fine when I said I can't entertain the idea and didn't push it further. However I'm now left with the nagging fear that if I'm ever too nervous it will get brought up again albeit this fear has so far been unfounded, but the fear is there nonetheless.

Don't get me wrong, I do think sedation is the only solution for some people and my reasons for saying "no way" are due to my previous history and not doubts over safety or anything but it is a worry that it's the first line rather than last resort. Is there a reason for this other than what appears to be laziness?
 
It's interesting that you say that as there is a prevalence for Dentists to offer this, one Practice that I made enquiries with said it was the only way they would treat me, and they hadn't even met met or been told anything about my phobia. The Dentist I finally decided to go with offered it immediately too although they were. fine when I said I can't entertain the idea and didn't push it further. However I'm now left with the nagging fear that if I'm ever too nervous it will get brought up again albeit this fear has so far been unfounded, but the fear is there nonetheless.

Don't get me wrong, I do think sedation is the only solution for some people and my reasons for saying "no way" are due to my previous history and not doubts over safety or anything but it is a worry that it's the first line rather than last resort. Is there a reason for this other than what appears to be laziness?

My own thoughts are that there is a place for sedation but it does not necessarily need to be the first choice with fearful patients (I considered it for myself about 18 months ago as things were getting so bad at my old practice with the new people running it!), in many cases with a caring dentist and the right approach most things can be done without sedation; again it very much depends upon the person.
 
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