Dentist Ugggh

[Prudie]

Why is it I'm so terrified of the dentist? I've had quite a long appointment today (45 mins) and apart from the injection it didn't hurt yet I spent the whole time wringing my hands and jiggling my feet and at the end I felt wobbly and light-headed. Now home I feel like I've been under a steamroller. Why does it stress me so much?

[aelmpvw]

i've had extensive work done over the years without any pain whatsoever but it still stresses me out, i think it's because i don't feel in control of what's going on

[Old_Geezer]

All in the mind. After all when in the dentist chair we have placed a lot of trust in another. They are going to remove and fill or whatever our only set of teeth and if they get it wrong we have to live with it. And it's a mental worry. But if you could learn one form of relaxation technique you might make this stress a thing of the past.

[jno]

it's never great to (a) open your mouth wide for long periods (b) have someone else sticking their hands in it. It's an invasion of personal space and uncomfortable even when it's not painful.

You can accustom yourself to it - concentrate on the ceiling; shut your eyes and hum to yourself; r any other distraction technique that works for you. Last time I had a root canal I actually managed to fall asleep during it.

[Brinjal]

Am exactly the same. Is rather a common phobia it seems.

[mazie]

I'm with aelmpvw, it's the not being in control that gets me..I hate it

[Prudie]

Maybe it is the out of control thing, I really don't know but it's subconscious whatever it is, I can't control my anxiety.

[Psybbo]

I used to be like that, still am a bit beforehand but he is the most gorgeous gentle and kind man so not so bad now.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

I think its the thought of being mugged by the receptionist on the way out.

[Prudie]

Actually the receptionist tried to rip me off at the end as she made a mistake in the charges. Trying to come across as snotty and authoritative with a drooling and drooping mouth without lipstick is not easy! That's me by the way.

[Tilly2]

I feel like that in the hairdresser, Prudie. I'd rather go to the dentist.

[bibblebub]

I find that having to keep the mouth wide open and tongue out of the way results in all the limbs being tense, so I think of my left arm and try to relax it, then similarly for the left leg, right leg, right arm, and then I'm back to the mouth making sure that it's wide open and the tongue is out of the way. The cycle then starts again with the left arm...

In the moments when my thoughts stray from that I find myself thinking that he's got a lot of hair up his nose, I wish he hadn't just drunk a coffee and have the smell on his breath, and I wouldn't want his job having to look closely into other people's mouths all day.

[boxtops]

I had dentist phobia for years, but it's a necessary evil. Part of it for me is that I can't actually see what he's doing, but he seems to be doing it with a hammer-drill......

I think my dentist has me down as nervous, the new dental nurse started stroking my hand while he was injecting me the other day. Nooooo (at least it gave me something else to think about...)

[Prudie]

Unfortunately because I chose to suffer for years rather than go I now need work done that would have been unnecessary. For some reason being in the bathroom at 2 in the morning with just clove oil for comfort seemed the better option.

[boxtops]

prudie - ditto. I didn't go for 8 years, many years ago, due to my fears, which meant I then had to have several extractions which could have been avoided earlier. We're our own worst enemies, sometimes!

[askyourgran]

I hated the school dentist, I was absolutely terrified and he was the start of my phobia of dentists. After leaving school I wouldn't go to the dentist I was so afraid, you can't take your mother with you when you are 17 can you? Over the years I have become less afraid, I had root-canal treatment which I'd heard was going to be painful but the dentist was marvellous, ear-phones playing peaceful music with my feet elevated - that was just the dentist (I lie). I honestly felt nothing and found it easier to go back again.