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What type of anxious patient are you?

What type of anxious patient are you?

  • Treated poorly in the past (as a child)

    Votes: 12 42.9%
  • Treated poorly in the past (as a teenager)

    Votes: 12 42.9%
  • Treated poorly in the past (as an adult)

    Votes: 6 21.4%
  • Hard to get profound anaesthesia / can't get numb

    Votes: 4 14.3%
  • General anxiety disorder

    Votes: 14 50.0%

  • Total voters
    28
C

comfortdentist

Well-known member
Verified dentist
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Messages
2,734
Location
Miami, Fl
It seems that there are 3 basic types of anxious patients:
1. Treated poorly in the past (especially as a child)
2. Hard to get profound anesthesia types
3. General anxiety disorder

Yes I know this doesn't fit everyone but I was wondering how each one of you may fit into this.
Are you 1,2,3, some combination or something else?
 
I would say I’m a one and a three together
 
I would say a 1, and that change.. triggers anxiety.
 
None of these, really. I am not scared of the dentist, not scared of having treatment (although I don’t love it!), and have never, ever skipped checkups or cleanings. My anxiety started last year when a load of issues popped up, after at least ten years of just checkups. I am anxious about being in pain, and the thought of losing my teeth, and am now essentially obsessed with my mouth. Ironically, my issues were triggered by clenching, and being anxious means I clench more. Vicious circle.
 
Absolutely number 1, in childhood. I could tell you every detail 40 + years later. Add number 2 as well - not that I can’t get numb, I just don’t stay that way for long at all. In fact, the last two dentists I’ve seen asked if I was really a red head.

I don’t have any anxiety issues but would certainly say I am easily “Triggered” in a dental office. I have huge issues with hands in/around my mouth, the position of chair, the drill etc. the list goes on.
 
Probably a mixture of 1 and 2, although the anxiety isn’t as bad as it was. I think initially going in, it was the worst.
 
Kind of a one with maybe 30% option 3 (if I'm being generous with myself!)
 
Mine is a 1 and 2, but the first wasn't necessarily that I was treated poorly as a child as much as the dentist just didn't understand that I wasn't getting numb and kept telling me it was just pressure I was feeling. I never had a cavity until early 20's, but had a lot of baby teeth pulled, and dental surgery.
 
I would say a mix of 1 and 3
 
1 and 3 for me.

I was fine with the dentist until 2005 but then i started to suffer from GAD and my phobia set in. I wasn't treated badly as a child but i braved the dentist after my phobia set in and this particular dentist laughed at me when i started to shake, so i had a gap of over 10 years until i braved it again.
 
I’m 2 with a dash of 3. Not really general anxiety though, it’s specifically medical anxiety which almost makes no sense because I work in healthcare but here we are.
 
Comfortdentist,

Is there one of these types that you see more often than the others as a dentist?
 
I've added a poll to comfortdentist's post, so everyone feel free to vote :)
 
Mine was 1 & 2; on top of that really arduous orthodontic treatment saw me avoiding dentistry altogether for several years before finally getting proper help and care last year (2018 AD) as detailed in my two journals in the "Journals" section and most recently, my one journal in the "Share Success" section. It also turns out that my dental traumas were closely linked to the flashbacks of my terrible times at school which were again resolved last year as mentioned in the aforementioned journals.
 
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