why do you have to be so scary?

[742617000027]

i’m 17 and i have autism. as a child, the dentist was the most terrifying place of all time to me. i’d cry hysterically in the waiting room because i knew my demise. because of my fear, i was always held down in place and threatened. my first memory of the dentist is drill bits being laid out in front of me and being told they’d all be used on me if i wasn’t a good boy and behaved. i ended up having a filling without anesthesia anyway. i’ve had countless fillings without local anesthesia, they even put it in my charts. i used to cry and scratch myself because it hurt so badly. i remember hearing other children scream bloody murder. there was a news report on my old office abusing children but nothing was really done about it. i have a lifetime of trauma, and it terrifies me that papoose boards and hand over mouth are legal in my state. as a teenager sometimes i wish i was treated more like a big kid than a real adult. i don’t want to do this, i’m scared, this hurts, i’m uncomfortable, please comfort me and tell me i’m doing alright during my treatment. do you make special efforts to comfort children in ways that help?

 

[Enarete]

Hey, I'm so sorry to read about your horrendous experience as a child. No wonder you are not looking forward to your next visit. Dentistry had changed a lot since you were a child and the best thing about being a grown up is that you can always find another dentist or advocate for yoursel. Not sure how helpful is your family or whether you have any support, but would it be an idea to let your dentist know about your fears and needs and see how they can help?

 

[742617000027]

@Enarete i had my appointment recently and you can see in my profile how it went