I've heard so many people say they have a fear of dentists and whenever there's something wrong with their teeth/mouth/gums they refuse to go to the dentist and end up complaining for ages.

My friend has had a chipped tooth but she's terrified of seeing her dentist. She's never had a bad experience with them but she has a crazy fear of them. The moment she's in that chair, she'll start shaking and will even start crying. This is a common thing and so many people like her become hysterical and have panic attacks.
Some may have had a bad experience but others haven't, so where has this fear come from?

My friend is not the only person I have come across with this fear. There are many. I did work experience in a dental surgery whilst at college and almost half the patients were afraid of the dentist, including the receptionist. Now it's not that he was scary, he was a lovely bloke, but they just hated dentists in general.

I'm not afraid of dentists although I never really went to them much as I was growing up. Naughty? Maybe.

We all have dentist stories so here's mine. I eventually visited a dentist after many years when I was 15. (Thanks to my dad who booked an appointment for me behind my back!) My upper jaw was over crowded slightly so I needed braces. The orthodontist saw me and sent me back to my dentist to have a couple of teeth extracted. Now considering I hadn't been to the dentist in years I'd say I was pretty darn brave. Lying in that chair I thought "Omg, this is for real. This dude is gonna yank out a couple of my teeth and I'm gonna be awake whilst it happens. What the heck is it gonna be like?" I did wander whether I could suddenly go "wait, don't do it!" but I kinda just figured this was something that happened to be done and it was too late to jump out the chair and run out the surgery yelling like a mad person. I also don't have the guts to kick up a fuss in public, which is probably what controlled me most :p

So yeah, I had the teeth pulled out and then the dentist asked if I wanted to keep my teeth... erm, lol?? O_o
The good things are it didn't hurt, my mouth stopped bleeding almost instantly which shocked both my dad and the dentist and my teeth are now straight. Woo!
My visit to the dentist wasn't bad in any way and every time I went to my Orthodontist I looked forward to it
My wisdom teeth also shot out when I was 17 and it was as good as painless thanks to th extra room in my mouth.

Right now there is one wisdom tooth which hurts a fair bit but I can take pain. I've mentioned it to a few people who have all reacted that exact same way "you better see a dentist about it straight away before it causes some serious problems! Take loads of painkillers now!" It baffles me cos all I say is "yeah, I'm fine thanks, wisdom tooth is a tad achey, but it's cool"
Strange how people react about wisdom teeth, what do you think?

So there we go, those are my stories, what are yours if you have any?
Are you afraid of the dentist? If so, why?
As for those of you who are not afraid of the dentist, what do you think of those who are? And are you as baffled as I am about this topic?

This is not intended to scare the bejesus out of anyone but apologies in advance if you are now scared. "Oops?" :P

Edit: The poll is multiple choice so pick as many options as you want which are relevant and because I'm so nice I didn't make the votes public for those of you who would like to vote you have a fear of dentists but might be too ashamed to admit to it. This way you can vote and get away with not mentioning it by posting it. It would be good to hear from you though! Muchas gracias!

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dentist are really the bad guys in our lives, aren't they? they ooze out fear because they can do something we can't. And what they do is so near our brain that there is no distance, no way to hide, its just : being vulnerable for half an hour, or, in my case, many many hours....

My experience with the dentist isn't that great, but not traumatic. When I was little, my mum took me to this old fashioned dentist in the south of Amsterdam. He was old fashioned in the sense of his workplace being the same for many, many years and never upgraded his way of working. The room where his chair was smelled like desinfectant all the time. He had the habit of grabbing your jaw in a firm grip , so you got the feeling there was no escape possible. My mum always went first and left my sister and me trembling at the side to see how my mum endured this strong treatment. And problably was hoping for some spontanious (even more) respect for her. Then it was our turn. We endured it with our eyes closed and just thinking of the nice sweet chocolate mum promised us afterwards.

My sis always got away with : ' yes great teeth, strong teeth, well done, only cleaning' . And then came the black sheep of the family: me. I was afraid of opening my mouth to the dentist as he would pull this face of: ' omg, mother of Clau, I am so sorry you get to live this with you'.I felt I was a walking cavity. There was always that he could find in my mouth to fix.
When I got older, I got some confort in knowing my grandmother had the same cookie dough teeth. But she had fake teeth now, so I let that hope go instantly.
When I hit the twenties, I moved to my current place and needed a new dentist. I got a very nice one, very modern one and he smiled when he saw me. (In retrospect, I think he saw eurosigns, or in those days: guilderssigns in his eyes when he saw me. )
He renovated, relocated, filled, cleaned, goldened, pocelend my whole set of teeth and now, 20 years later, I am very happy he reconstructed the whole bit.
I haven't had anything wrong with me since 17 years and I will have to visit him again tomorrow. This time, a routine visit , with my two kids.
Times change and I'm very happy with my dentist, who keeps upgraded and knows what he is doing.
And, as history tends to reapeat itself: my oldest has great teeth, and my youngest? hehehehe. Dentist, here we come!

Haha! This is topical for me...

I went to the dentist 3 weeks ago for the first time in 9 years! I was putting it off for ages, because:

1. It was no longer free.
2. The longer I left it the more embarassed I was about going.
3. I thought the dentist would tell me off... (wimp, Ches!)
4. I thought there would be muchos pain involved. I knew after nine years my teeth couldn't be in that good a shape...

Sooo anyway, been back there every week since! Must love it now... My teeth were fine, and my fears were unfounded, except one wisdom-tooth which needed extracting - hence my visit the next week. Nice and easy. Jab jab, yank yank, no tooth. No pain. Dunno what I was worried about! Went back last week just to make sure my hole was healing.

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Clau, I like that even though you had a meanie as a dentist when you were younger you didn't let it bother you as you got older. Your mother made you watch as she was being seen to by the dentist which has its pros and cons and I think if I watched one of my parents go through a bad experience I'd do whatever I could to avoid going through the same thing.

Hmm, funny how my dad booked my appointment after the dentist performed a serious surgery on him which meant he couldn't eat properly for a few days, was almost always drugged up on painkillers and was constantly switching between ice packs and a hot water bottle for his jaw to calm the swelling and pain... :S

As I read what you wrote Clau, I thought "there's something coming, I can tell" and wham! There it was!
I love that you get to go through the same thing (ish) with your daughters now. Reminds me of that play I wrote recently :D

Edit: Yay for Ches, well done! Whatever happens I am not getting this wisdom tooth pulled out even though it is a tight squeeze on my lower jaw. I'm not afraid of having teeth taken out, but wait for it, and don't laugh, this is serious... Because two teeth were pulled out for my braces I now have 30 teeth instead of 32. If one more is extracted I'll have twenty nine teeth left, which is a) a prime number and I can't stand them and b) I'd rather go through with this pain without taking painkillers. I know I can handle it.

Oh and thank you for mentioning the issue of dentists now practicing privately instead of on the NHS, I can't believe I forgot about that! Feel free to view your opinions on that. Should be interesting.

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My dentist could not believe that my tooth wasn't causing me pain... I wasn't sure why at the time, but after he took it out he showed me:

a. The absess (sp?)
b. The fact that a third of the tooth was missing.
c. The pulp of the tooth clearly visible through the middle.
d. The decay all around the tooth.

It wasn't pretty! The rest were fine though - think its cos the wisdom teeth are just bloomin' hard to reach with a toothbrush...

I was on the waiting list for an NHS dentist for about a year before I got my appointment. All the checkups and the extraction I've had over the last month cost me the grand total of about £45. Privately, i dread to think how much it would cost.

Everyone I spoke to prior to my appointment said to go private because the quality of care is so much better, but I was proper impressed by the NHS dentist. Apart from the tiny fact that the rooms are really small... not exactly a pressing issue when you can only see the ceiling for the most part anyway.

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Iwas scared of the dentist for ages i had a tooth that grew over a milk toth, and i wouldet let them tale it out no wayz, it went on for 3 yrs mum asked the dentist to just do it, i cryed lolbut he would not do it cause it wasent wot i wanted.
S i had to go to another dentist who was good with kids they made me feel ok over 5 or 6 visits, then i had bubblw gum stuff put on the toof it mummed it and then she told me to think of a good place i like to go and before i knew it my tooth was out.

When I was 17 I chickened out of surgery to remove my wisdom teeth. They horrified me with all the things that could go wrong.

So, 17 years later I still have them. We have dental insurance, just have to pay a deductible... and I still avoid dentists like the plague. And I too, have teeth that no matter how often I brush and floss they disintegrate.

My husband is a dentist and I hear about quite a few people who have fears of going to the dentist. IMO, I think the reasons for these fears vary widely. Some are just random reasons, perhaps just the idea of having needles, drills, and other sharp instruments in their mouths. Others have had past bad experiences. I'm sure dental techniques of the past have helped create fears for some people.

For myself, it depends on what I will be having done. For the last several years it has just been regular check-ups and cleanings. Due to regular maintenance I haven't needed any major dental work done. My biggest fear regarding any dental work is the idea of needing an extraction. Many people might wait until they have a major problem causing them pain and needing immediate attention. If your mouth is already hurting, it might be even more scary letting someone poke around in there with sharp instruments.
Preventative care is the best way to avoid uncomfortable visits to the dentist.

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Puny dentists are afraid of me more like.

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Update:
Well, my dentist was grinning again, under his big moustache. I need two more crowns :( they are indeed 20 years old and he wants to replace them. My oldest, takes after he dad where her teeth are concerned and had nothing. My son takes after me and had a cavity filled heh.
He learns very young what it is to be at the dentist.

My dentist is horrible, and despite normally going every half year, I skipped my latest appointment and have no intention of visiting that man again. But finding a new one is too much of a hassle, I suppose...

I don't think the man was too hygienic (actually, it was pretty obvious he wasn't; wiping something off does not equal sterile, and that stuff goes into my mouth!), and I had blisters in my mouth every time I'd go there. He'd also overstretch my lips by trying to put 6 drills and a vacuum cleaner in there at once, and, worst of all, he would never tell me what he was about to do. Often, he wouldn't even really inform me about what he just did!

One time, about a week or two after I'd visited him, I was checking my teeth properly to see if anything was stuck in between, 'cos something was bothering me. What did I see? A small piece of metal between two molars. I tried with all my might to get it out, but couldn't, so I made another appointment.

Turns out I had chipped a molar (or maybe he did, with his amazing dexterity), and he had to fill up the gap to prevent things from rotting. Great! Thanks for telling me that! So he fiddled around in the back of my mouth a bit more, and tells me: 'All right, I replaced it with a white one, so you can't see it any more'. Nice! I'll see all that on the bill! If every place would give me things I wasn't asking for I'd be broke by now!

But dentists in general, I don't mind...

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I hate going to the dentist because I never do what he says, as in floss, brush twice a day... :(

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Rastafari is not a culture, it's a reality

Oops, been a while since I visited this thread :$
Interesting, why do you say that? My orthodontist used to always go "Mouth open wider please, I still need my fingers" I have a small mouth; it was never intentional for my teeth to bite her fingers

Welp. I wouldn't ever go to a dentist who did any of that! The only thing putting me off going to visit a dentist right now is that I have to pay cos my dentist is no longer on the NHS and I'd have to pay for myself now that I'm working. I've no idea how much it costs tbh but all my money is being spent elsewhere :/
Nay, oral hygiene is everything and that alone is enough to make me not wanna go back. Are you gonna look for a new dentist?

That was me when I was like 5, shame on you Java, you're older and should know better! :p
The dentist I went to when I was little was called Dr Biniki and of course we all called him Dr Bikini, oops?

My orthodontist gave a "souvenir" on my last appointment. It was a model of my teeth after they'd been straightened. Which I keep on my desk...

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meh....im not afraid of my dentist...just bored of him.....its boring sitting there waiting.....i have better things to do..

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^ I think getting your teeth looked after is a pretty good thing to do, Jen.

AJ: Yes, the next time I'll be visiting a dentist (whenever that may be), it won't be him, that's for sure.

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There really arent too many people that scare me but, the dentist is one person I am definitely scared of. Ive had several bad experiences, including a piece of my jaw that cracked off during wisdom teeth extraction that later mined its way out from under the skin. I actually awoke from the anesthesia when it happened cause of the sound it made. I was too out of it to say anything expecially with my mouth full of gauze, dentists fingers and pliers. I asked afterwards when I was fully awake if something bad had happened but they told me no everything went well. It wasnt till months later that I felt something rather sharp sticking out of the skin underneath the gums of my back molars. I was able to self extract a 3 inch piece of my jawbone with my fingers. A few years later and a different dentist... I had a stuck up ***** of a dental assistant that had some kind of problem with me crack my tooth while putting in a filling. Ive had other dental assistants that were rather abrupt with me as well. So, if I can help it, id rather not have to go to the dentist.

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Woah, Atreyu! You're scaring me. How on earth did you take your jaw bone out and what did you do with it? Weren't you in excruciating pain?

Well, I mentioned it so here it is, the model of my teeth



(upper jaw on the left, lower jaw on the right)

Please note, my upper left incisor is not chipped, the model got damaged whilst they were making my retainers, I assume. And no, nerdy, you can't paint my teeth!! She's been trying it for ages :|

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Hah, I have a model like that too. I always remember my teeth as having been just fine even before I got braces, but every time I come across the model I'm slightly surprised at how crooked some teeth were.

I hated going to the orthodontist though. Being there was no problem, but the days after were PAINFUL.
But he had this one really cool employee who would yell greetings at me across the practice. Only to me, it seemed. Once I forgot my umbrella, and she took it home with her and took it back with her the next time I had an appointment.

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I'm not afraid! Well, i never had a tooth token out. I did have one of my teeth "painted" silver, though.

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I thought this article about NHS dentistry would fit well into this thread about teeth!

2/7/2008 Dentist reforms 'let patients down'

In summary, the article talks about how dentists within the NHS are paid, and how since the calculation of payment changed from NHS dentists being paid for each peice of work they did, to them being paid a fixed sum for carrying out a certain number of pieces of work in a year, the standard of care they have been providing has dropped dramatically, with the number of tooth extractions rising while the amount of work on more complicated procedures has dropped by more than half.

And no, I'm not afraid of the dentist... although reading this thread makes me apprehensive about going to a dentist in the UK... >.<

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Well apparently the piece of my jawbone had fractured off cleanly so there was no pain and I didnt know it was there until it worked a hole through underneath my gum. There was pressure when i pulled it out but not excruciating pain then everything just healed. I couldnt do anything against the dentist because it was a city funded hospital(Parents couldnt afford to have a private dentist extract 4 wisdom teeth out of my face).

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this thread is gonna make me afraid of my dentist...with these stories.......

XD :P thanks atreyu.hehe

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Could see it coming tbh. Although I didn't expect the numbers to be so high

Ah, I see. Makes sense. Just out of interest, roughly how much would it cost to see a private dentist to get your wisdom teeth pulled out? I've no idea what it is in the UK... Help, anyone? :/

Agreed! I didn't plan for people to get scared/worried, sorry! :$

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Nowhere in this thread did I notice the magic words "Nitrous Oxide" mentioned.
When I was very young, the dentist I went to did not use any novocaine. This was also before the hight speed drills that are in use today. I managed to teach myself a type of self-hypnosis, which redefined the pain as just another minor irritation, and it didn't bother me all that much. Now, though, even in the days of 'painless dentistry', I make sure that the dentist I use has nitrous oxide available (laughing gas, for those who haven't heard the term before). It's not that I fear the pain, but, like Jenni, I get bored in the chair, and the nitrous just makes the time pass so much more quickly and pleasantly! Do they even offer it much in the UK?

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Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, laugh uncontrollably.. and never regret anything that made you smile.

You missed the answer "No, but he/she is afraid of me!"

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