Share your Dental Phobias/Fears/experiences

[lauralea]

My phobia stems from my general dentist I had as a kid, the last time I seen him, he was like 'big stretch, open wide', and i was opening my mouth as wide as I can, and then hes like come on you can openwider than that, and basicaly he stretched my mouth open with his hands. Immediatly i felt a cold and tingling sensation down my back and to all my fingers and toes. Needless to say, It took ovr 5 years to see any other dentist. And when I first went to try to see a dentist after 5 years, I fainted, in the chair...not once..but twice! I was horrified, and scared! So then another year and a half goe by and LOTS of ATIVAN, and i go to a new dentist and have a wonderfull experience (thanks to the ativan i assume LOL) when my new dentist is assessing me, she wants me to go see an ortho and a surgeon, to be honest, i went to the consults but I have not a great clue as to the reason..ehehe (Got braces anyhow)
Anyhow, I am still getting over this, I definitely feel anxious at times especially around the dentist (dont mind the hygentist), but I will continue to go to the dentist and finally get over this fear. If going to the dentist was only to see the hygentist, there would be NO problem.
I think my greatest fear of going to the dentist is being told that I have a cavity, the sound of the drill, and the injections to numb the mouth. I quess i have this thing that if there is somethng wrong with my teeth (cavity, recession, placque, tartar) that means that im doing something wrong.
What do you guys think? Do you guys have any dental phobias, fears, experiences, ect?

[catgyrl]

Great topic, lauralea!

I have always told anyone who asked... I would rather go to the gyno than to the dentist. And I still feel that way. I had a horrible dentist as a child (all of my siblings had the same one) who was mean, would get mad if I would start to close my mouth as I was under the influence of nitrous oxide ("OPEN!!!!!"); gave me painful novocaine injections... you name it. I'm sure there was a time after I became an adult that I didn't go for years. (Probably explains why almost every tooth in my mouth is filled with a filling.)

That dentist ended up passing away, and I was passed on to his nephew. Much nicer guy, but he also had a hard time numbing me to do fillings. He once shot me 6 times, and I wasn't fully numb. I finally told him to just "go ahead and finish it", and dug my fingernails into the armrests.

I finally found a great one who has caused me almost no pain... is the spitting image of my grandfather...yet I'm still very anxious when I go. I think cleanings are worse than cavity filling because at one time, my gums would bleed from any contact with floss or the scrapers. The sound of that drill still gets to me. I actually envy my brother-in-law, who is deaf, because he can't hear a damn thing! I always have to use the restroom beforehand, and although I may look relaxed in the chair, I am clenched from head to toe, and completely exhausted when I leave.

I believe that dental phobia is more common than people think, and whoever has it should not be ashamed. I commend you for going through with getting your braces, lauralea, because as happy as I am that I got them... it is NOT fun to go through what we have to go through. (HA! And I haven't even gone through the worst yet!)

-Cathy

[leannaaker]

HA! I say the same thing about gyno vs. dentist!

My dentist is lovely, BUT, I have a huge gag reflex (dentist says it is the worst he has seen). I think it stems from almost choking on a piece of hard candy when I was 6 or 7 (they had called 911, and heimlich finally dislodged it), and not getting dental care when I was young.

I need nitrous for cleanings, and triazolam (rufies, essentially) when I get work done.

Ironically, I'm a 9th grade science teacher, so I know my fear is irrational, but it is still there!

Hang in there folks. :-)

[lauralea]

I think our fears are competly rational Leanna, eventhough to some they may not be. have discovered the biggest thing between a phobia and a fear is the control you have of yourbody. honestly, when I was so bad that I actually had a phobia of the dentist, I had no control over my body, it would just shake, pass out, and felt out of control. However I have bee doing a lot of self-actualization to get to th point I am now, although its not 100%.
I hve never had nitrous, would love to try it to be honest, I dont know if my family dentist uses it, I will have to ask come July.
Niceto hear other similar experiences though.

[catgyrl]

Nitrous is some good... stuff!!! I asked for that instead of IV sedation for my wisdom tooth removal because I don't tolerate anesthesia well (I get very nauseous afterward). It cost me an extra $50 (back in 1997; today it's an extra $150), but it was so worth it. All the cracking and pulling - barely heard or felt a thing, and if I did... I DIDN'T CARE! I was rockin' out to my Garth Brooks CD and havin' a good old time.

My oldest sister said she can't stand having molds taken, either, because she feels claustrophobic and panics, like they're cutting off her airway.

Funny story, but slightly off-topic: Anyone here ever watch "The Osbournes"? Ozzy went to the dentist once and the guy was giving him some nitrous, and kept asking him "Can you feel it yet?" and Ozzy kept saying "No..." After upping the amount about 5 times, and Ozzy still saying "No..." he said, "Too bad, I'm not giving you anymore! I think you're lying!"