I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been scared of dentists. The antiseptic smell of the dental office is enough to have my stomach going over in knots.
Listening to the sound of the drill while waiting to go in isn’t great either. I could tell some of the other patients were thinking the same thing, shuffling around nervously in their chairs, pretending to be interested in a magazine from five years ago.
It’s almost like childbirth in an odd way, you spend weeks worrying about what you are going to have to go through and then afterwards you wonder why you were so worried, but it doesn’t stop you from worrying the next time you have to go to the dentist.
It’s not just the smell of the place and the fact that I really didn’t want to show my less than perfect teeth to the dentist. I'm also wary of the dentist’s love affair with local anaesthetic.
Let me get this straight, I’m not needle phobic. I had so many blood tests during all my pregnancies that I wondered if I had enough blood left to fill up my face, but I can only tolerate needles in certain places and the idea of a needle in any sensitive areas like the genitals or inside the mouth, was just toe-curlingly cringey for me.
I refused outright. In fact, the only time I ever had to have a filling, I nearly ran out of the surgery when he told me. I told him there was no way in the world he would ever get me to consent to having a needle in my mouth so he said, “Fine, I’ll do it without anaesthetic.”
I think he expected me to back down and consent, but instead I agreed. Actually, for those of you who want to pass out at the thought of a needle in your gums, a filling without anaesthetic isn’t really painful at all, not until the last moment and then it’s over.
After that experience I avoided the dentist for years. After all, there are some procedures that cannot be done without anaesthetic and I never wanted to be in a position where I might have to consent to that dreaded needle in my mouth.
Fast forward several years and two babies later and I was forced to attend a dentist for medical reasons. The dentist ordered a scale and polish and because I have ultra-sensitive teeth she told me that she would perform it under a local anaesthetic. I was utterly horrified and went home in tears. I was so upset I actually had nightmares and could not sleep.
The day of my appointment I was helping channel 4 do a documentary on breastfeeding so I had to remain composed even though I was a screaming mess inside. I couldn’t run away or cancel my appointment because the entire TV camera crew had followed me to the dentist office and were filming every second of it.
"You cannot freak out on national television," I kept saying to myself over and over again, when I walked into the surgery trying to look unconcerned. The dental receptionist looked a bit surprised by the camera crew behind me.
“Don’t mind them”, I said, while trying not to show that my hands were shaking, “they’re just making a TV program.”
Once I finally got into the dentist’s awfully foreboding examination chair, the dentist saw what a mess I was and told me she’d do the polish without anaesthetic.
Yes, it did hurt a little but I was so relieved! Thankfully, all of the recordings were edited out of the final TV program so viewers didn’t get to see my terror.
Easing Your Fear
• If, like me, you can’t have a needle in your mouth, there are anaesthetic gels that can be applied to your gum so you don’t feel the needle.
• Ask your dentist to use a dental wand instead. This is a needle that looks like a pen and delivers the anaesthetic in a slow and less painful way.
• Find a phobia-friendly dentist. Some dentists specialize in treating people who are scared.
• Take a friend with you to your appointment so you don’t have to go through it alone.
• Play some music to distract you.
• Some dentists use alternative therapies such as reiki, homeopathy or Bach flower remedies to help calm you during your treatment. These dentists are called holistic dentists or natural dentists.
• If you are very frightened, you can opt for conscious sedation. You will either be given a drug similar to gas and air to breathe, or an IV with drugs that relax you.
• There is an online forum for people with dental phobias. This is: http://www.dentalfearcentral.org/forum/
• If you are in the UK, there is a dental helpline where you can discuss your fears, run by the British Dental Health Foundation on 0845 063 1188. They also take emails internationally: http://www.dentalhealth.org/dentalhelpline/
Sources:
Fear of the dentist, NHS Choices. Web. 13 December 2011. http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/dentalhealth/Pages/Fearofthedentist.aspx
Using Reiki for Relaxing Dentistry, Dental Helpline. Web. 13 December 2011. http://dentistryhelp.blogspot.com/2006/11/using-reiki-for-relaxing-dentistry.html
Reviewed December 13, 2011
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith