• Dental Phobia Support

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Status update, mostly about mental health

A

AnxiousThesia

Junior member
Joined
Sep 18, 2018
Messages
16
Hello again, sorry i haven't been keeping posted on the situation, as nothing has yet to come up.
Similarly, sorry if i don't reply to anny comments, sometimes i don't have time to reply and forget to afterward. But do know i'm not ignoring anyone, you're all very helpful. And kept me somewhat calm during my seemingly awful situation. Even though it's not that at all.

Anywho, down to the topic at hand. So as i said, nothing about insurance or a consultation has come up. I looked on the website that has my new health insurance and it says i do have dental insurance. But i ahven't gotten a call to confirm it yet, and so far nobody has picked up when i call them.

And while i'm waiting for all this to finally happen and be done with. My anxiety has been coming in waves so to speak. Most of the time i'm not thinking about the up and coming wisdom tooth extraction. But other times it comes right back and I have to keep reassuring myself that the situation isn't as bad as I make it out to be. And i have to keep reminding myself of all the helpful advice you guys have given me. I have to keep telling myself that people have MUCH more complicated surgeries done and be very successful.

But while i'm not having panic attacks, the situation still weighs down on me. While i'm not panicking, i'm still kind of stressing. Does that make sense? I think the fear of anesthesia has worn off a little and spread to worrying about the actual operation, which is something I was not at all worried about prior. I think that it finally clicked that i'm having something done to me that I haven't had done in many many years. And the anxiety of that is finally catching up to me.

I know this kind of stress is normal for the type of situation I'm in. But I keep making it out to be a lot worse than it is. I keep telling myself that this very simple Wisdom tooth removal is equivalent to an open heart surgery, and that every worst case scenario that can happen will happen. And those four wisdoms are just now growing in according to everybody I've been through. I'm told they don't even need to break them into four pieces and they can just scoop them out.

Has anyone been able to fully block out these horrible feelings?
 
Hi thanks for posting! I understand how you feel slightly. I suffer from anxiety .. more social anxiety which is very challenging but in general I worry about anything and everything at the best of times. I have to get two teeth extracted also, I haven't been to a dentist since I was about 11/12 I am now 30 and I'm very worried. My appointment for that is in 2 weeks time. It crosses my mind and I panic but at the same time I keep thinking it's only an extraction and I won't feel a thing. It shows how easy the procedure is when they do it and you can simply walk out after it's done, so it's not as big a procedure as I think. Try and relax and take deep breaths and think of after it's done think of how proud you will be after it's done. You can do this! Don't let you anxiety beat you. I am a qualified fitness instructor so need to be in front of people all the time taking classes etc and it's lots of people and my social anxiety kicks in but if I let it win.... I wouldn't have the job I've always wanted to do. You can definetley do this I have every faith in you. Please keep us all posted and we can support you through it

Best wishes, Sam x
 
Hi thanks for posting! I understand how you feel slightly. I suffer from anxiety .. more social anxiety which is very challenging but in general I worry about anything and everything at the best of times. I have to get two teeth extracted also, I haven't been to a dentist since I was about 11/12 I am now 30 and I'm very worried. My appointment for that is in 2 weeks time. It crosses my mind and I panic but at the same time I keep thinking it's only an extraction and I won't feel a thing. It shows how easy the procedure is when they do it and you can simply walk out after it's done, so it's not as big a procedure as I think. Try and relax and take deep breaths and think of after it's done think of how proud you will be after it's done. You can do this! Don't let you anxiety beat you. I am a qualified fitness instructor so need to be in front of people all the time taking classes etc and it's lots of people and my social anxiety kicks in but if I let it win.... I wouldn't have the job I've always wanted to do. You can definetley do this I have every faith in you. Please keep us all posted and we can support you through it

Best wishes, Sam x

Thank you for the helpful advice and support :). Good luck on your own procedure!
 
Anxiousthesia,

Its really hard when all these anxious thoughts come up.. and there seems to be no shortage at times, I know that feeling.. all the "what ifs"... can be crazy.. What is so awesome is.. this is coming up to the surface for you and you are recognizing and processing it. You are aware of what you feel and that is a great start and you are talking about it and journaling on here.. Do you journal much for yourself? I find that really helps me.

Brene Brown, my favorite author talks about a SFD.. well,, not sure if I can swear on here but "Sh***y First draft".. basically journalling every anxious thought and feeling not caring or trying to edit at all.. and it really helps... like what are your emotions, what is your mind telling you and body telling you and whatever you want to say just purging it on paper.. I love journalling myself and then going back on it and seeing all I went through and the process of how my anxiety calmed.

Also realize rationally yes, this isn't heart surgery and alot of people have survived and I used this myself to calm myself down in procedures from dental to other procedures.. but giving yourself permission to be anxious and have your feelings and they are so valid without comparing . Seems like you are really doing some great processing and healing.. we are all a work in progress I know I am.. lol .. anxiety is hard.. especially in the dental arena..

I totally agree with Tinydancer and say you got this!
 
I understand where you are coming from, I sometimes let these bad feelings take over but I just try to block them out, think of something happy (cats and other animals work for me) and know I have been brave before getting dental work done- 3 wisdom teeth out (only one I went with IV sedation, the others', just with numbing), a root canal and a crown. I now need a new back top tooth root canaled and a crown done, with a different dentist as well, which adds to a bit of worry but know I need to do this to save my tooth. I wish I could get it out of my mind until nov. but I can't seem to do that but keep saying to myself that I will be able to do this, I am brave. Maybe try journaling, positive affirmations on sticky notes on a mirror or reading self help books with meditation,etc.?

Good luck and you can DO this.:thumbsup:
 
Thank you all for the comments!

Apologies again for my delays in replying to you all.
Since I've been here, even though I still get worked up about my impacted teeth you all have done wonders for my mental health and have kept me sane during these stressful months.
 
Do not worry about not replying or not replying quickly enough, we all understand that there are phases of intense presence on the forum and phases where it is less, people come and go and that's fine.

You already got a lot of great advice here. I had found out for myself that anxiety just will be present at times no matter what. It is not a logical thing and often it is not even about one particular procedure. As you mentioned, if you managed to get rid of one topic, the fear of the next will pop up.

For me, sometimes it is about processing and finding better thoughts and sometimes just stopping to try to get rid of it. Why wouldn't you allow yourself to keep a bit of those anxiety? It's there and it's a part of you so why not to allow it to be for a moment. Just be kind to yourself and do not put yourself under pressure too much. If you have something that helps, do it and if it's a moment when nothing helps then waiting for a better moment is ok too. Funnily, if I allow the anxiety to be, a better moment often comes sooner than later.
 
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