EXTREME dentist phobia!!!

[alittlebitclueless]

So I basically need lots of work doing to my teeth and I'm so unbelievably frightened that I'm literally letting my teeth get worse!!

6 years ago I went through something quite traumatic this led me to spiral into a very bad very long spout of depression, I just stopped caring for myself I didn't really shower or brush my hair and worst of all I would binge eat a lot of rubbish and drink a lot of fizzy drinks and not really look after my teeth (please don't judge)

I am gradually working on my self and my life and I'm starting to become a little happier and cope with things easier. Better yet I've been back to looking after my self like I used to before depression / ptsd took a hold of me, I just think I started too late!

I have one bottom front tooth half eroded and my back teeth need root canals, fillings I need some removed and I'm so so scared because I hate hate hate the dentist the last time I went I fled when she told me she could start work that day!! I'm scared of needles and pain my tolerance is very low and I keep telling myself to ring the dentist and I never do

Not only that I'm paranoid that the dentist will massively judge me on how bad I have let my teeth get even though the rest of them are clean and white now! WHAT DO I DO????

Do I just explain this to my dentist as well as express my fear?

Is there anything I can do to not freak out?

(Sorry for the long post I just needed to get this of my chest)

Hi OP. Please explain to your dentist how you feel. I hated the dentist after going seeing a dentist at a young age who I would describe as a butcher. My dentist was really sympathetic. I had 3 roots canals several years ago. I was petrified. May be consider asking to be referred to a sedation clinic (best thing I did for my root canals and I felt nothing).

I can guarantee if you find the right dentist they won't judge you. If you can try and get some recommendations. I now have the best dentist and have overcome the fear I had for years.

www.mydentist.co.uk/dental-health/dental-treatments/sedation

Oh, OP. I'm extremely nervous about going to the dentist, and I have felt so much shame about it. Please be honest with your dentist. I did, and I get gas (I'm in the US, so think it is nitrous) and that helped a ton. I just pay extra for it. I know the dental anxiety, and I also need to make an appt for cleaning! Please just be honest about it. A good dentist will work with you.

I am with you op. I have actually gone to the dentist, called FROM OUTSIDE THE DOOR and cancelled the appointment as I simply cannot walk in. I completely understand you. Tell the dentist. Get sedation or, as I got, some mild tranquilizer. But get on it. you do not have to suffer or be self loathing about this. Good luck.

I'm in the same situation and I tried 3-4 dentists in last years but had zero luck with them. One of them told me from the beginning that if I don't deal with my fear and try to interrupt him I can just get up and leave, and the others mocked me and laughed at my worries. And these were docs with good reviews..

Ask your dentist to refer you to the community dentist, these offer midazolam sedation.

This could be my DP writing this post. Keep trying, baby steps, no one is judging you x
You can do this x

www.thegentledentist.co.uk/
These guys transformed my dentist experience, they really understood. I see they are a “dental phobia accredited dentist” - I hope you can find one of those near you and start the process. Good luck and well done for getting this far.

The dentist will be fine ,just tell them. I dare say they will be able to pick up on your nervousness .
I developed a dental phobia later in life which I think is linked to claustrophobia.I can cope with injections , extractions and anything that doesn’t require anything being attached to me teeth or mouth so for example if I have a filling and they use a matrix band to keep the filling in place then I will go from 0 to 100 in panic in an instant. Root canals are also problematic because they tend to use a rubber dam. My dentist commented he had never had such a reaction before, I was out of the chair and heading for the door sobbing with the matrix band in place at one time.
I have never been treated badly or hurt at the dentist but this is something that just came on like a switch being flipped in my 40’s.
In the end I gave up struggling, explained to my GP who prescribed Diazapam and I take two before any treatment. It makes me feel rough afterwards and I have to have an escort to take me to the dentist but at least it means I have a strategy if needed.

Thank you everyone I'm considering it!! I don't know where I get this phobia from but I get the same with having blood taken although I've had it way over 10 times just this year I still get scared!! I think it's because I know I'll be getting treatment for hours at the dentist. I know it will be worth it but it's literally making that first step

I completely understand, but dental health is so important. I am now with the best practice I have ever had, because I’m Nhs the dentist changes every year or so, but they read my file are gentle and have never mocked me. The alternative to not having my teeth looked at over rules most of the anxiety. I also had a butcher when I was a child.

I’ve had root canals and fillings under sedation, and honestly it was a really relaxing easy experience. It’s hard to describe - you know what’s happening, so you can open and close your mouth when they tell you to, but you just really really don’t care. The drugs are amazing!

Remember if your teeth are in a bad way that doesn’t just affect your teeth - it affects the rest of your health as well.

Best to get them looked at sooner rather than later, it was very hard to see a dentist during lockdown!

I went approx. 2 years ago after not going for 20+ years. I cried making the appointment, I cried in the waiting room and cried at the appointment. I ended up being referred to the hospital (cried during my first appointment there too) and had gas and air which was a miracle. I had 6 or 7 appointments and ended up with something like 16 extractions, 3 fillings and a cleaning as my teeth were literally crumbling. Everyone was really nice and I felt no judgement.

The problem that no amount of people telling me how it had changed in the 20 years was going to make me go and I still probably wouldn't have gone if my front tooth hadn't broken in two.

www.dentalfearcentral.org/forum/forums/support.23/ this is a good website/forum...I used it when I had dental pain and extraction during lockdown and was getting in a state

Oh yes the dental fear forum is where I found the dentist that helped me finally get over my phobia. Look for someone who talks about treating people with phobia rather than a generic 'nervous patients'.

I take Valium now before the dentist if I’m having work done. Only thing that gets me into the chair!

Dd's like that. She has it done under sedation and just knowing that she can do that means she is far more relaxed because she knows she can always stop and say she can't take any more.
However it does add the expense up.

If you can afford sedation it can work wonders. I'm terrified of going to the dentist after some awful past experiences, and have complicated issues with local anaesthetics (in a nutshell, I'm one of a tiny percentage of people who doesn't go numb properly) as well as a pitifully low pain threshold, but I can cope with treatment under gas and air. Expensive though.

I really feel you. It took me a year to book my first appointment after not going to the dentist for 11 years. It was the shame that I had the biggest issue with. The dentist could see how scared I was. She played music and chatted to me too. It got easier to keep going after that. The hardest step is always the first.