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Anxiety Disorders
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Dentist and anxiety

jennyoo7
jennyoo7

I had an old friend tell me how terrified she was about going to the Dentist, even putting it off and requiring anti-anxiety meds. I kind of giggled at her expense and shrugged it off as a personal phobia of hers. Well holey hell I totally freaking get it. I didn't know I was scared of dental work until it was my turn. I've never had any work done before, no cavities, nothing but cleaning...which kind of sucks but doable. I had a full on panic attack, crying and shaking and trying to get up and run. It was so embarrssing. Between getting 3 cavities filled and getting two wisdom teeth extracted I ran to the bathroom once the room stopped spinning and smoked my vape. Then back at it for another freaking panic attack.                


I'm scheduled to go back in a few weeks for the bottom wisdom and a cavity. Like that will happen. I'm never signing up for anything like that again.                                                                                


Does anyone else here go through what I just experienced too? I feel so stupid because honestly other than the needles for freezing I didn't feel any pain but even knowing that I will never do it again. 


arfie
arfie
I often wonder if mocking somebody else's pain is an invitation for that very pain to visit my own life. It happens to me with distressing regularity. My own dental herstory (my adult teeth came in rotten with almost no treatment available) is such that the dentist was far more relief than torture for me, drills and all. Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) usually gets me through. I visualize flocks of sea gulls to go with the drill sounds.

The first brain fart out of my twisted mind is to go ask the friend whose sharing planted the seed of this anxiety. Amends and tips in one? Maybe? ? ? Dunno. . . I just a patient. . .

Gentle validation, whichever way you take it, Jenny. Anxiety is not an easy beast to tame.
Community Leadermujicaptsd
mujicaptsd
I've got more fillings than teeth, I think, coming from a cavity prone family. That meant that as a 10 year old kid I had to go to the dentist so often that I used to have to go to the dentist on my own. We lived on the mission field then, in a city of 1.5 million, and had great dental benefits through the missions board. I got to go to a top notch dentist.

The problem was that this dentist's office was right by the university downtown. When 6 years of civil war broke out when I was 9 years old, the university was the rebel strong hold. So when sporadic urban warfare broke out, it was usually right there.

My fear of dentists now is from memories of getting dental work done as a 10 year old kid, and then literally dodging bullets to get back to the bus stop from the dentist's office to get home. Waiting in a doorway, listening to crackling gunfire, then betting on a lull to last enough to get across the street telling myself "you go, little Muji!" making a run for it.

It wasn't Mayberry RFD, and it comes back to me when I go to the dentist now. Monday I just had my dentist leave me a voicemail to remind me I have a temporary filling that needs to be replaced with a permanent one. I haven't called back yet. Not something I'm eager to do.
jennyoo7
jennyoo7
Maybe it's karma, maybe it's subconscious or maybe it's normal but either way I've cancelled my next appointment. I'll try that arfie approach and wait until it comes down to relief when choosing to go. I talked to a few people in real life and they all knew someone who struggles as much as I did. I'll take some comfort in that too lol, thanks guys
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