So I was at the dentist today for the second time in 12 years and it went about as well as I could have hoped, need half a dozen fillings and a crown but on the bright side I got my teeth cleaned and my gums are in good health compared to the last time I went (2017).
I've always hated going to the dentist, I tend to bleed a lot and have panic attacks but I've started taking my health seriously a few months back and part of that process is going to to the dentist more frequently.
My issue is that the anxiety hasn't gone away, as a matter of fact it's gotten progressively worse as the day goes on to the point where I can't function much past writing this up.
Wtf is going on?! It wasn't even that bad during the procedure but now 6 hours later I'm damn near paralyzed in fear.
I have 3 more appointments that I need to go to in the next few weeks and if this is what it's like afterwards I will pretty much need to take each of those days off.
I tried going to the gym, eating food and sun bathing but I just can't shake this.
What the hell do I do?
Dental Anxiety
take downers beforehand. The anaesthetic they use effectively blocks out any sensation to the nerve, so any pain you do feel is purely psychosomatic.
pop a xanax before your procedure or some shit.
Is that going to be an all day fix?
I have this anxiety too, worst thing was when I had to get all 4 wisdom teeth pulled with 2 of them being sideways (took 2 hours for one tooth to be crushed and pulled).
Basically I accepted I was going to die and kinda powered through it thinking it didn't matter anymore what happens.
I guess you just have to go and let it happen, the dentist knows what he's doing and try and think about things u like to block out whatever is going on when he's in your mouth.
>block out whatever is going on when he's in your mouth
The problem is that my anxiety isn't going away and is actually getting worse the longer the day is going.
I'm not an anxious person normally, actually up until today I thought anxiety and anxiety meds were a retarded meme disease/ snake oil.
Well there has to be an underlying reason for ur anxiety, it's not something sudden and random, and taking drugs is only suppressing without addressing it. Try and work out why you are so scared, go deeper and deeper step by step to see what the reason for ur anxiety is. I think mine was that I'm not keen on giving others power over me and me not being in control (just like I don't really like rollercoasters), and I convinced myself there is no logical reason for my dentist to do anything bad to me.
Perhaps you had a bad dentist experience long time ago which made you wary, in which case you could have a chat with your dentist and tell him how anxious you are. He's probably a nice guy and if you get on friendly terms maybe you'd feel less anxious if your in his chair
My dentist is close by. I have three shots of vodka and get there. The drink hits me ten minutes later. Happy sexy employees are the most important thing. Getting friendly and going a lot eventually made everything easier. Don't let them give you any shit. Your job is to fuck up your teeth and their job is to fix them. Make the next appointment on the spot so you dont puss out.
This book has entire sections on dental phobia: the anxiety and phobia workbook
It will fix all your shit
T... thanks...
ask to keep the sunglasses on even after they stop probing your mouth with the bright lamp
Dentistry has an image problem.
What kind of drooling retard thought to make sharp pointy objects the symbol of working on your mouth?
I ran dental practices for years overseeing around 25 Dentists. The worst thing that ever happened is a wrong tooth got pulled. The likelihood of you dying during a dental procedure if you're healthy is exceptionally low.
My recommendation is to educate yourself. I was actually afraid of dentists until I started working in dentistry. What helped me is the understanding of what happens during procedures. While you likely can't get a dentistry job, you probably can learn about the procedures to understand exactly what is happening in your mouth. If that doesn't work, just go to a place that does sedation dentistry
you're probably gonna need a few trips after a decade of neglect
No I mean even after the visit
I had severe dental anxiety until I neglected my teeth to the point where fillings were falling out of my teeth and they were rotting from the inside out until one of them cracked one day.
That pain was WAY worse than any sort of nervousness I was feeling before. I literally couldn't sleep for two days because the pain of my jaw naturally closing shut and my teeth touching would jolt me back awake, it felt like someone was ripping my jaw off my face.
The only thing that really sucks about dentistry is that how even in a magical socialist utopia where they have universal health care and it costs 0 dollars to get your moles checked out and your prostate fingered and whatever, it still costs WAAAAAAAY too much for someone to poke around your teeth for 15 minutes and tell you that you need to floss more - let alone have any actual work done on you.
How are your teeth now
My dentist wouldn't even give me the satisfaction of saying that everything will be good once it's over
How can you go 12 years without knowing you needed all those fillings? I'm kind afraid now because my teeth used to hurt, but I ignored it until it went away.
What exactly are you afraid of, the procedure itself? Your teeth getting worse in time?
Hi! I’m a dental hygienist and I have a few thoughts to offer.
the office you go to can make a huge difference in how comfortable you feel. Both of my parents have dental anxiety, and part of the reason is because they were not going to an office that could accommodate that fear. You want to SPEAK UP about the anxiety, and ask what your options are. Many offices offer nitrous oxide (laughing gas) or valium, and some will even sedate you (put you under with IV), even for something like a simple cleaning.
If you don’t want to use drugs, then it’s important to find an office that is willing to give you a longer appointment. Many offices only allow 45 min per patient, period. There are a lot of things to do in that time, so sometimes the hygienist or dentist may feel like they need to rush and brush aside your anxiety. That’s why you need to tell them in advance, so they can plan to allow for more like 1 hr-1 hr 30 when scheduling you. That can allow you time to settle in, chat with the staff, ask questions, etc.
Lastly, some quick tips:
1) some people take Advil before the appointment because they think it will help with pain. Don’t do that- it makes you bleed a lot more so it’s more difficult for us to see, and we’re more likely to slip or make a mistake. If it hurts during the appointment then speak up so they can use more lidocaine, they might have just not anesthetized the correct places due to variation in anatomy.
2) bring some earbuds and listen to some music to zone out. It’s scientifically proven that distraction helps with BOTH dental anxiety and pain.
3) come in to your appointment with a clean mouth so that the dr doesn’t have to waste time re- cleaning. Like I said- if he thinks he has 45 min to fill a tooth then that is what he is going to spend filling the tooth. If he has to spend time re-cleaning, then it leaves him less time to get the filling perfect.
If you have any other questions i’d be happy to answer :)
I'm not afraid of anything rational. It's like a legit phobia
There are dentists who specialize in phobic patients. If you want, they'll knock you out just for an exam. You pay more, of course
Theyre called anxiety attacks not panic attacks. Panic attacks are when your sympathetic nervous system activates for no reason.
Anyways,
You need to sit down a make a list of the following:
Whats the WORST that can happen?
Whats the BEST that can happen?
What will MOST LIKELY happen?
No matter how stupid the thought sounds, write it down.