How do I Get Over My Fear Of The Dentist?

Question

Have had two really bad times with two different dentists - the first was when I was about 15 and the dentist took out a molar at the back and when I came round he told me to bite down on cotton wool to stop the bleeding, however a sharp piece of the shattered tooth then got embedded in my gum and I bled gushingly for about 18 hours. The second time I went to another dentist and he was obssessed with giving fillings and he would drill on the nerve. I kept telling my mum but she thought that I was being dramatic until she had to have a filling. We changed dentists pretty sharply after that.

Answer 1

you cant it's been 16 years since my last visit and it still scares the crap out of me

Answer 2

Well, I can personally see where you're coming from. My past experiences with the dentist aren't good ones. But I just found out that I need to have a root canal. Which a lot of people say is a horrible painful procedure. The only way that I felt "at peace" in a sense, with the whole dental work, is I went to several different dentist's offices and I actually talked with the dentist who would be performing what I was having done. After searching around for a few days I finally found a doctor that I felt comfortable with. I went in to the dentist two days ago to get the prep for the root canal and I didn't feel any pain. When I started twitching because I was feeling pain while he was drilling, they saw it and gave me more Novocaine. So you really just need to find a dentist that makes you feel at ease when you speak with them.

Answer 3

Hey ;)
I have the same problem -- i don't trust dentists at all. I've had 8 dentists and i'm only 20 lol
Some Dentists can be rude and horrible and cant be doing with people who have a fear.
I have finally found a soloution and that is to ask to be put to sleep - some dentists do this.
Also if you look in the yellow pages under Dentists you will find that there are Dentists who are specialists with dealing with people who have a fear. Might be worth a look.
Another thing to try is to be hypnotized.
Good look xx

Answer 4

Find a dentist who you're comfortable with, and go. I didn't go for almost 10 years because of something incredibly dumb...I have a phobia of metal in my mouth. I hate the taste and sound of metal hitting teeth, to the point where I bought plastic utensils, and shivered when I heard someone eating with metal silverware. I also didn't realize that I had severe periodontitis, and after 10 years of not seeing a dentist, I had to have all of my teeth removed at 23. I'm now waiting on a set of dentures, but my gums have to heal first for 2 months. Meanwhile, I barely talk and walk around toothless. I have stitches all over my gums, and even though I feel better now than I did when i had my teeth, it still sucks to have all of your teeth gone.

Some people here will tell you to brush and floss everyday and you won't need a dentist, and that's not true. I brushed and flossed, but it didn't stop gum disease because it was inherited. My teeth had to be removed before an infection set up and traveled to my heart valves. Look around for a good dentist, and don't settle for just anyone. Good luck.

Answer 5

A person who never experienced fear of a dentist will and cannot understand. I am sure they have fears also but of different things.
I often wonder who many dentists are afraid of dentists but will not tell. I also had fears as a child for the same reason.
I know an MD who is afraid to go to other MD's but is the first to tell you to go. He is a relative. Dentists need to learn compassion, and put patients at ease and listen to them,something they are lacking. Because they have a degree they think they know everything. Thankfully, all are not that way.
We have a degree too, pain
Maybe dental schools need to incorporate a program about dental phobia in their courses.

Answer 6

All of these bad experiences will help you find a good dentist. That is about the only use for them. My dentist is great. I can tell he worries a lot. It helps to relax me. I am not afraid of him, and I told him so. His office staff is terrible. They are patronizing and condescending. I got lucky. I do not go to him any more because he is too expensive. They all are. They are also arrogant and condescending. You need to ask around, and keep at it until you find a good one. It was discouraging to finally find a good one but not like his prices. You have to try to navigate through all this the best way you can. I will not put up with arrogance or stuffiness or meanness from anyone, including dentists. Your fear is real to you because you went through those experiences which caused it. It is yours and you should not be afraid to own it. But at some point, you may want to get free of it, and the only way I can think of is to replace it with the experience of being with a good dentist. I like that suggestion of finding a female dentist, for starters. If this were something I were trying to diffuse, I would do a better job asking my friends about their own dentists. I would keep asking until I got a real sense of what their dentist is all about. I am so generally down on dentists right now I do not go to them any more. But if I had fear of them, which I do not, I would begin by informing myself about other people's dentists. That would be my starting point. Then, when I got enough of a scoop on one of them, I would give him or her a "trial run," such as one filling, &c. Sooner or later, the law of odds (or averages) will bring you right into the chair of a good dentist.

Answer 7

go to the dentist.I am currently getting over a real fear and luckily I picked up a few things about fear and councelling since I last went years ago.

Each time you worry about the dentist and don't go you are reinforcing the fear. Every time you get scared, you get more scared.

It is hard but talk to the dentist and explain how you feel.
If you want to know all the details of whats going on, just ask.
the more you go and realise that it doesn't hurt nd there is nothing to be afraid of, the less afraid you will be next time

Answer 8

You need to find a good dentist. Ask around which dentist other people you know use. Ask if they are happy with the service they receive. It should like you just had a couple of bad experience. There really are good dentist out there.

Answer 9

explain to the dentist that your nervous and he ll be nice we have patients coming in every day that are nervous it ranges from the pain to the materials we use people are nervous for all different things like planes to buses such is life

if you looked after you teeth better you wouldnt need treatment i hate the fact that people come in soooo nervous and hardly bother to brush in the first place (by the way i mean in general) i can never understand it

the only thing you inherit is you teeth gum disease is an effect of poor oral hygiene and you dont catch it either and you only need a root canal if your teeth are so badly damaged by decay thats the only thing to do other than extract them !!!!!

Answer 10

i have a fear of the dentist to !! a really bad one infact but if you look after your teeth properly you dont have to go i havent needed to go for 8 years now but when i did go i just kept thinking about other places like thinking your sun batheing when you lay on the chair it helps me hope it helps you

Answer 11

both the dentist contributed the fear in u.i wish u visit a good dentist