Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Are you scared of the dentist?

43 replies

ClassicStripe · 26/02/2025 21:11

I am very scared. Didn’t go for almost ten years 😮. Went today and I was practically weeping with fear driving there! I don’t know how I forced myself out the car. I’m not scared of any other medical environment.

OP posts:
Snowmanscarf · 26/02/2025 21:51

Nervous rather than scared. I’d take a smear test over a dentist any day.

HalfArsedMother · 26/02/2025 22:24

Try different dentists .. some make me extra nervous than others. Just go for a check up initially to scope them out.
I feel more comfortable with female dentists and hygienists for instance.

HalfArsedMother · 26/02/2025 22:24

And well done! 💐

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Dental health
Deadringer · 26/02/2025 22:31

For me the dentist is just one of those things that is unpleasant but necessary, I had a filling today actually and it was fine. The hygienist is much worse imo. I am an old gimmer and I can remember the days when dentists were awful, brusque and rough, with dental tools that wouldn't look out of place in a torture chamber.

familyissues12345 · 26/02/2025 22:39

Like a pp, I have a very sensitive gag reflex, so can't cope with the water trickling down my throat. I'm also a bit claustrophobic, so in general I don't like the feeling of someone rummaging around in my mouth

MountainOrBeach · 26/02/2025 22:40

Yes. I had horrible experiences as a child that DM wouldn't listen to. I had procedures where my mouth wasn't numbed properly and not done properly. I can still feel his hands in my mouth. I'm not an anxious person but this is a real phobia. I'm both terrified and ashamed now to go to the dentist. DH takes the children so I don't pass on any of my fears. I know rationally that I need to go but can't quite get there.

Fraaances · 26/02/2025 22:40

Absolutely petrified. I grew up in a small Aussie country town. (In the olden days… 🤣) The dentist came a couple of times a year and he had one eye and no depth perception. The number of times he stabbed me under the tongue or scratched my gums with that pokey hook thing…. Also, he was such a short arse that he would make you move over on the chair and climb up and lean in when he was doing things. Every single kid had fillings done whether they needed them or not. (Amalgum of course) And he felt creepy and icky as well as incompetent.
Then as an adult I moved overseas and was trying to show my kids that dentists were decent human beings and nothing to worry about (also trying to prove it to myself.) The first dentist I went to was really rough, and he didn’t use bloody gloves. While he was fishing around in my mouth I thought “Oh, his thumbs are different to each other… That’s really weird. Then I saw the scar and realised that he had somehow lost his thumb (probably bitten off by a patient trying to get away from him) and IT WAS HIS BIG TOE! **Cue immediate uncontrollable gagging. (All I could think of was toe jam 🤮)
Now I am back home in Aus and I have a lovely dentist. She’s upbeat and fun and loves to tell my dentist stories at parties. (Can’t afford to see her, but that’s a thing here…)

Deadringer · 27/02/2025 18:09

Fraaances are you saying that he put his toe in your mouth? Or that his thumb was gone and it had been replaced with a toe? Either way 😫

BananaBubbless · 27/02/2025 18:15

Not at all - They’ve helped me when I’ve had agonising toothache.

I never skip my appointments as they are worth their weight in gold when you have a problem.

sanityisamyth · 27/02/2025 18:19

No but I don't like how much it costs to go, so I don't go!

MoonWoman69 · 27/02/2025 19:03

I had an horrific dental phobia for most of my life. I woke up one morning to half my face swollen so badly, it had shut my eye. I summoned up the courage and searched for a sympathetic dentist. Found one and she was absolutely brilliant! Talked me through my options, really only general anaesthetic, to get me up to date, as it would have taken too long going step by step.
Got all that sorted, then went back to the dentist regularly. And although I still don't like it, I can manage! I'd rather that than go through all that again!
Had an under the gum 'jetwash' at the end of January... Jeez, that was an experience! I clenched my hands and toes that much, I thought I was going to break them! Thankfully, I don't need that doing again for a while!
The more you go, the easier it gets I think. Well done OP, you're ruddy bloody brave! You did it! 💐

kealost · 27/02/2025 19:17

No, I don't find it comfortable, but it's not painful. I've been putting off an appointment mainly because I know it'll trigger more appointments (as I have ongoing gum problems) and spare time is tight now.

RedFatball · 27/02/2025 19:27

No, but at nearly 50 I've never needed any work done. So it's been a checkup every 9-12 months for my whole life and the occasional hygienist visit and that's it.

imtherelala · 27/02/2025 20:01

PigInADuvet · 26/02/2025 21:17

No, I'm not scared of the dentist. I am scared of the receptionist who gives me the bill at the end!

Edited

Same my last visit cost 1,300 bhat cheap compared to some places.

Fraaances · 08/03/2025 12:34

@Deadringer - he must have injured/lost his thumb and had his toe implanted instead. Utterly vile.

Lentilweaver · 08/03/2025 12:35

No.

Deadringer · 08/03/2025 12:37

Jesus that is vile.

TheDandyLion · 08/03/2025 12:39

I'm more scared of the costs for the dentists than the actual dentist.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread