• 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.

    Register now to access all the features of the forum.

Step 1 of many

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Scaredtodeath1

Junior member
Joined
Mar 13, 2022
Messages
2
Location
Oswestry
So this is my actual first step in to sorting this horror show out. I'm 28, fit an healthy apart from my mouth. I've have a phobia of hospitals an dentist for as long as I can remember. This phobia was passed down from my mum who went though this same prosses herself. I have very few teeth, all rotten an just shattered out, I'm struggling to eat an swallow but I'm petrified to do anything.

This morning I woke up an knew this had to change. I have a partner who's dental hygiene is great. I young children an this isn't fair on them. I feel myself hiding away an they miss out on doing things that makes me too open an visible to other people. I'm so reserved an such a shadow to my old self.

Where do I go? What do I do? I know I can't just walk into a dentist an they are going to shake a wand an im cured with new teeth. I know there's a long process but wheres the actual start? Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Hi
well, for starters joining this site is incredible. It helped me beyond words when I began to tackle my dental fear a year ago. I would first recommend looking into dentists that take dental fear seriously and schedule just a consultation where they’ll just peek in your mouth and ease you into things And come up with a treatment plan. and then just step by step, appointment by appointment. You’ll likely feel immense relief just that First appointment. I’ve had multiple extractions, including my wisdom teeth, filling and now going into implants At 42 years old. With the right caring team, it is possible and dentistry has changed so much that in all honesty every provedure I’ve had done was much more built up in my head then it turned out to be. I did everything with just local as well. Good luck and please just book the appointmen. You wont regret it. Get all the support you need from this site, it truly is amazing.
 
Does your partner have a dentist
 
Thanks for the replies, I feel like I'm not alone. I've hid this for so many years (you can only hide so much) but support for people I don't know rather them judging makes me feel a whole lot better. My partner does have a dentist but they 'aren't taking on'.

Fear is my biggest issue but also financially, I feel like it would bankrupt me especially with today's economy.
 
If you get the money go private

Or ask your partner to call his dentist and get you on the waiting list. My nhs dentist was not taking on but did for my husband . Its worth a shot
 
Hey there!

I second what’s already been said. Joining this site in itself, is a huge step already! It shows that you’re ready for a change and you’re ready to confront the fear. I agree that it’s going to be important to do research on different dental practices. Put together a list if you can of those you think might match what you need and then, work up the courage and give them a call. Just a call. Ask about how they handle those with dental phobia and those with major dental issues. Ask if you can have a call from a dentist to discuss your situation.

It was only this month I went to my first dental appointment in a decade (because I had to), and it was scary. I didn’t even let them really look in my mouth! I won’t lie, even if they aren’t judging you, you’re still going to have to battle with feeling judged. But, you have to remember, a good dental practice wants to see you with a beautiful, healthy smile. They want to see you healthy. Anything else outside of that doesn’t matter.

As for money, I wish I had good advice for that one. My treatment isn’t even really started yet for the same reason. All you can do is ask what sort of financing a dental practice has, what individual treatments cost and what needs to be done right away vs what can wait, etc, etc. There should be someone at a practice, a treatment coordinator or something similar, who would help you go over that.

But right now, it’s just about finding a dentist that‘s going to match with your needs. And right now you should be proud of the first step you’ve taken in deciding things need to change!
 
Hi @Scaredtodeath1 and welcome ?

Fear is my biggest issue but also financially, I feel like it would bankrupt me especially with today's economy.


Another option might be to get a referral to the community dental service, who look after severely anxious patients. It sounds from your description as if you would qualify. Do you have a GP or are you in contact with any other health professionals? If so, they should be able to refer you (though in some areas there are long waiting lists, not helped by COVID!).

You can find out more here:

 
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