What caused your fear or phobia?

[SapphireGirl]

Feeling the drill go through my tooth as the dentist didn't numb the area enough.

 

[mumof3]

My fears stem back from childhood - when I was 7/8 yrs old, the family dentist decided I needed two teeth out - my mum wasn't allowed in the room and when I realised what I was going to have done I freaked out not once did the dentist try and reassure me or calm me down. I screamed and cried I was held down in the chair by two dental nurses and then the dentist rammed two rubber blocks into my mouth, this I know now was to keep my mouth open, he then squashed that rubber mask over my face so hard - I woke in pain, sobbing and a mouthful of blood. After my mum heard what happened, we never went back. As adults and parents , my brother, sisters and I often recall the horrific memories of that dentist

I went on to another dentist, who was ok at the time and as a parent, took my own children to her - I always went into the room with my children and on the last occasion, my eldest became scared and this particular dentist became rough with my daughter - needles to say we never went back!

For the last several years, we have had a great dentist, who is very reassuring and calming to the children

 

[KJMTA]

This is great! Knowing there are others that really really hate going to the dentist! I am not sure any specific reason why I hate it so much. But I know when I went to a dentist and heard him say oh no, as he was doing an extraction. Then referred me to a oral surgeon who by then I was running a 103 temp and said he really could not numb my mouth,and what a horrible job the other dentist had done, I would avoid the dentist. And up to about 2 weeks ago I had done a pretty good job of it. Since then I have been DX with high blood pressure and one thing my GP said was I need to get my teeth checked. I went in and right up front told the dentist I am very very nervous going to the dentist. The fight or flight sets in the minute I hit the chair. My blood pressure with 4 different meds on board was still 216/134. Pulse 130. And that was a cleaning. I now have to go for 2 root cannals and just thinking about it makes me want to come unhinged. I am seriously thinking about just cancelling it. Any suggestions?

 

[Clem]

I think mine started the first time I got stabbed in the mouth with that needle, for time without end. And that's just the beginning.

 

[mermaidzen]

For me it is a number of things. I was abused as a child by my step father so now hate anyone else being in control. Also my mum is very scared of the dentist and would sit shaking in the waiting room we would know she was scared. I don't really remember much about the treatment I had as a child as I have bloked out a lot of my childhood out. I do remember I was ment to have a brace fitted but my mum never took me back because of her fear I was about 13/14 then

I didn't visit a dentist again until I was prengant with my oldest (11 years ago) and she was nice (above a sweet shop of all places) She was really understanding and told me I needed to have my top wisdom teeth out because they were crocked and that I would need to have the bottom ones removed at the same time or they would keep going but she said because of my fear it would be best done in hospital under GA after my son was born I canceled 3 times before my husband made me go and have it done. Unfortnaly she left without worning and when I went to see her I saw a male that really didn't care.

2yrs later I was pregnant again so I then moved to the dentist my husband used but he really didn't care and I would often end up sitting outside to calm down. He would get cross when I would gag with the X-Ray and so was unable to stand still. I stopped going.

Then 6yrs ago I was pregnant again so tried a new dentist surgery the dentist was OK but would get fed up having to redo the X-Ray because I had moved from gagging but otherwise he was OK but due to ill health he had to leave so went back to the old surgery as hubby throught it would be good if we could use the same dentist as a family and the new one was not taking on new NHS patients so I moved make and took our 5yr old who has ADHD and ASD and the dentist was so cross with me as he was unable to sit still.

I gave up then a year ago I took a fall from vetigo when I was in the shower and chipped my front tooth and was left with a rough edge and sore tooth I tried to cope but after a few days when dont to Hitchin Dental that were taking new NHS patients and saw Micheal he was so kind asking me what it is I am afraid of but all I could tell him is being out of control. I then took my 3 children for a check up both boys have ADHD and he was great with them really paient and understanding. I now go for a check up every 6mths each time he tells me of something new that he has to do and then talks through the best way of doing it. 6mths ago he filled my back molar and told me as it was deep we might have problems with in a few days I had an abuses but it went away so I did nothing it came back up in half term but I had to wait tills kids were at school before seeing dentist as I don't want them to see mummy's silly fear or they might get scared and at the moment they are happy to go (helped by the fun events run in the holiday for kids like dress up and tooth fairy doing face painting) and that is how I want it to stay in fact when middle son took a knock at school last November and chipped his tooth and I rushed him down they saw him right away and were worried he had fractured it so he was only aloud soft food for a week, he was not scared to go back and infact my ex said he ran up the stairs to see the dentist.

Now I hope with Micheal's help I can overcome my fear he is very understanding I have even felt able to tell him the true reason for my fear is the abuse. I hope you can all find a kind understanding dentist


Zenah

 

[casi]

I don't know what caused my phobia. I remember i didn't like going to the dentist as a child, and once when i was about eight he said he was going to take one of my teeth out, i jumped up and stormed out of the room shouting "I'm not staying here with monsters like you!" To be fair the dentist didn't react to this at all, but my mum was horrified by my behaviour and gave me a really hard time!

My phobia didn't really develop until i was older though. I suffered from PTSD for about seven years in my late teens and early twenties after witnessing the violent death of someone close to me, and i was just really anxious in general during that time and i think that was when it started. I still over react to stress or adrenaline at times and get very shaky.

 

[chemoangel]

What caused my phobia was a horrible root canal. THe dentist was mean, impatient, and quite rude. Not to mention when he gave me the novocaine, he hit a nerve and I felt fire running through my jaw, face, nose, and brain! It literally felt like liquid fire! Well THAT Made me SO Nervous that I accidentally swallowed the novocaine which made me gag because my throat felt numb and I couldn't feel myself swallow. Then he goes and puts the rubber dam on and It made me feel like I was suffocating. NEVER Again. Not without anesthesia.

 

[Mareish]

Mine Stemmed from when I was approx 11/12 and I had braces fitted.

I had to have teeth pulled and gum cut away prior to fitment. When I got the gums cut I had my mouth nummed but the pain was unbearable ( I was screaming!) It was also done at a Dental hospital ( I think was part of Manchester University I cant remember now tbh) but they also brought in a room full of students to spectate. It was humiliating and very painful.

When I had my braces the othodontist was not a particually nice fella and would often tell me off, I left crying a couple of times.

I am 31 now and havent been to the dentist since I was approx 18 as my anxietys grew and grew. I really want to have my teeth looked at, I dont want to loose any. I have one badly chipped and a filling which has fallen out, and they could probbaley do with a good descale and polish but I am petrified to go.

 

[Matt190280]

For me it began in the UK when I was six years old and told I couldn’t have breakfast that morning, before a visit to the dentist. I never knew why, nor did I know why they made me take a pee before heading all the way back to the dental office to a room full of people and a bigger, stranger looking dental chair.

From behind me came a black mask that hissed and smelled like paint thinner. I was very nervous and still didn’t really understand what was happening. I tried to turn away from the mask but it followed my face. I then tried to bring my arms up to my face and they were held away. What followed was full blown panic, what the hell was happening? The team of people in there ensured I couldn’t get up, they held me down as the hissing gas grew louder……..

After vivid dreams of flying through tunnels, I woke up very confused and quickly found I was bleeding and the room was still spinning. I was couldn’t walk in a straight line and was helped by my dad all the way down the dentists spiral stairs to street level. As soon as I got outside I graced the morning with some vomit consisting of blood and bile.

From then on, every time I needed an extraction and I told them NO GAS!

During my teens I needed 4 adult teeth removed and had it done with local anesthetic. It wasn’t pleasant; I tried to block out the pain of my teeth being twisted and his knees crushing my chest. I tried to tell him it hurt, but he correct me “you can only feel the pressure” After so much Lidocaine I collapsed after getting out of the chair.

I had now had so many procedures with the local anesthetic that I began to hate the sensation of being numb. It took so long after each procedure for the sensation to return. One time I had a self inflicted carpet burn to my lips trying to feel something through the anesthetic.

As soon as I was old enough to refuse to go to the dentist, I used that right and simply abstained for more than ten years. Nowadays I am lucky in a lot of ways that I haven’t had many problems develop. I never went back for any of the orthodontic work I was supposed to have in my teens, nor did I have my wisdom teeth extracted to facilitate braces.

I have since moved to Canada (Ontario), I did venture to the dentist recently and was told I urgently need to have 5 cavities filled before they become bigger problems. Just calling a dental office now sends my heart racing; sitting in the waiting room is agony.

Anyway, I’ve made the appointment. April 16th is the date. I’ve had to admit defeat and opt for IV sedation. Never had it before, I don’t like admitting to anyone let alone a dentist that I want sedation, but I do – I want an easy not unpleasant trip to the dentist.
Matt

 

[strayly]

I had a filling fall out of a molar so went to get it fixed. The dentist said he'd need to pull the tooth out, gave me four injections which didn't even work. I told him that I could still feel everything but he said I was talking nonsense and proceeded to try and extract the molar. It was absolute agony, he broke the tooth in half and decided he'd best send me to a different dentist a week later.

I had to spend that week with a nerve exposed, I was literally banging my head off a wall to lessen the pain. Went to the next dentist, told him the injections didn't work and I'd prefer sedation but he told me to hush. Gave me NINE injections - which surprisingly had no effect - and then went on to kneel on my chest and dig out the remains of an agonising tooth with something resembling a chisel.

I have avoided dentists until last week when I had to have another extraction - thankfully under sedation. I have since had to go back and have the hole packed a bit but had the foresight to neck a load of Diazepam an hour before going there so it wasn't as terrifying as it could have been. Now the packing has fallen out and I have to go back yet again. I am not looking forward to it, for one I am out of Diazepam and for two, the dentist already thinks I'm a massive wuss because I burst into tears and start shaking the moment I walk through the doors of the surgery.

 

[Alexandra1973]

Waaayyy back in 1975, when I was 2 years old, I had to have my top front teeth extracted for some reason. NO painkiller or anything was used. NONE. The dentist's explanation to my mother: Babies don't feel pain.

I barely remember it, but it was enough to make me not want to go to a dentist!

I had fillings in when I was 19, wasn't too bad...had extractions at 15 because of braces, didn't care for that experience (it was the pressure and I think I could literally hear my teeth being ripped out *shudder*).

Had 6 extractions done two years ago, opted for IV sleep. After that I had a couple of teeth filled, didn't even hurt. So...I've gotten over my phobia.

I just hate the idea of losing all my teeth and looking like, well, trash. That's my fear now...so I need to take better care of them!

 

[mojopearl]

My phobia of the dentist came from my mum. I was fine as young child when I went to the dentist but my mum was terrified and whenever she went she would take me with her. I'd watch her build up to appointments. I remember when I was about 11 years old on the way to my own dental appointment I suddenly got nervous. In my case I learned to be nervous of dentist from my mother.
The moral of the story is - if you have a dental phobia - don't let your children share in it with you. And don't drag them to your appointments if your are phobic!
Ok it is feasible that without my mum I'd have developed a phobia anyway but I do believe my problem stems from watching how she reacted to it.

 

[dinodeans]

I was sexually abused by my dentist. It started when I was about 8 years old. He would give me vallium intravenously and then give my mother vallium tablets to give me later. He told her they would help me stop sucking my thumb. He would make a string of appointments for me over a period of a month or so, several a week, then leave me for a year or so before it started again. Because i was so young I didn't have the vocabulary to explain why I hated going - I remember him asking my mother "you know what happens in my surgery dont you?" and she said yes, of course and nobody liked it, but it was just something you had to put up with. this went on until I was about 13, I became an expert at blocking it out and never mentioned it to anybody until I had a massive flashback during dental treatment when I was about 30. Haven't been to a dentist since that day. It has affected me in every medical situation and I have major problems even getting to a GP. I have been lurking in this forum for longer than you can possibly imagine and today after years I have actually registered.

 

[kraftykoala]

I had a horrendous dentist when I was a teenager, I think I was 19 or 20 and needed a root canal on a top front tooth. He didn't give me any anaesthetic because he said the root was dead and I didn't need any. Needless to say it was absolute agony and when I begged to be numb he told me I was being ridiculous.

Avoided dentists like the plague for many years, mouth is a bit of a mess now. Have been making myself visit a dentist with the kids as I don't want them getting phobic, but had a bad experience a couple of weeks ago that has knocked me for 6 and I'm really not feeling great at the moment.

 

[Camisa]

I'm sorry to hear all of these stories. I bet you guys will find that one dentist who you trust and it'll all be roses That is how it usually goes.

I am still having recurrent traumatic experiences with dentists. I've seen over 10 in the last 3 years. I have a horror story for each one.

 

[Mikey Boy]

Mine came from when I was a kid.

They never trust me so they would hold me down they entire time like an animal. I mean how could people be so thought less for the person they were working on.i not an animal it was just too much for me to bear I had to run far away from it.

But time to move on and put this behind me

 

[RaVenBlackehart]

I have no excuse at all. None of my past dental experiences were painful or traumatizing. Maybe it's the way they tip the chair back just a little too far, or the fact that when they try to cram a lot of THINGS in my mouth it sets off a stupid panic reaction. Or that bright light in my face. Or my overactive imagination. I just hope it goes away by next Thursday when my appointment at the oral surgeon is. But I do have my "secret weapon"---- Rescue Remedy!

 

[thatpatient]

It has to do with shame. When I was younger͵ I didn‘t brush my teeth as often as I needed to. My paremts were not very strict about it͵ my dad even brushes without toothpaste.

I developed lots of cavities during periods of emotional distress too͵ so my cavities happen on clusters. I feel ashamed to go to the dentist because everyone else seems to have perfect teeth. I am scared of that astonished look when he discovers the amount of fillongs that I have͵ and the perplexed look as he tries to figure out how I got into this situation in the first place.

 

[Polly]

I was doing just fine until I discovered I have to undergo this operation. I suddenly started to think more and more about it and making a real big deal of it. I rationally know that I have nothing to fear but I am afraid that panic overcomes me. I am maybe more afraid of my reaction than the operation itself. I don´t think this is directly related to dentistry, probably some issue I have with a lack of self-confidence. Still, I don´t seem to be able to conquer it, even if I can rationalize it.

 

[franklinm]

Back in November I was going to have a cleaning until my mom cancelled it and re-scheduled it 4 January. Before I knew that she was going to cancel it I knew that when I went to another appointment was going to have to be scheduled because I had tooth crowding and would have to get them pulled. So another appointment was made over Thanksgiving break. Getting them pulled was pretty painful and so were the injections but I had nitrous so that helped. I've always been a little nervous about going to the dentist but nothing like this. So I guess having my teeth pulled started my fears.