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| The dentist (Read 398 times) |
finney Resident pinniped |
posted: 4/30/2008 at 1:30 AM |
Is anyone else as terrified of the dentist as I am? I had a TERRIBLE experience about 8 years ago and have never really gotten over it. I go in for a cleaning about every 1 - 1 1/2 years (yeah, I know I "should" go every 6 months, so in before that) but every time is just an exercise in white knuckle, full-on anxiety attack, terror.
Better yet has anyone overcome this fear and if so how did you do it? My dentist I have now is super nice, helpful, and doesn't have a condescending attitude but it really doesn't do much to calm my fears. |
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posted: 4/30/2008 at 1:53 AM |
Terrified of cleanings? Serious?
Perhaps you need to go to a dentist with nice dental technicians to take your mind off the cleaning.
I would not say I am terrified, but I do not enjoy getting anesthetized.
Last year, I got a filling and when they put the anesthetic in it felt as if nails were coming up through my bottom front teeth. For the next 8 hours, my mouth was totally numb.
This year, I got a filling replaced and the anesthesia was the issue yet again! Half my throat was numb for approximately 5 hours. |
09-20 Tour Des Fleurs 10k (20k)
Focus on breaking 1000 miles for the year.
22:00-23:00 for 5K (maybe)
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finney Resident pinniped |
posted: 4/30/2008 at 4:10 AM |
Yes, absolutely serious. Long story short, I had an extraction go bad - I was treated to over 2 hours of ripping, tearing, and blood as my tooth came out in pieces and the anesthesia wore off once. Then, I woke up in excruciating pain that night - pain like I seriously had never known possible - went to the ER and found out that the connective tissue in my jaw had been torn. It never healed right and it flares up from time to time to this day.
My rational mind knows there is nothing to be afraid of during a cleaning, but it can't convince the part of my mind that remembers that ^. |
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| view log Hurdle the Dead |
posted: 4/30/2008 at 12:17 PM |
There is nothing irrational about fearing pure evil.
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E-mail: JakeKnight2002@aol.com
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"The past is nothing but a series of recollections; it does not own you ... if we are prisoners of the past, we are jailer as well."
~~ Jack Kerley, The Hundredth Man
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| view log True. |
posted: 4/30/2008 at 2:48 PM |
Not that I'm advocating the indiscriminate use of drugs, but in this case it would be worth checking to see if your dentist would prescribe an anti-anxiety med for you to take before you go in. Dental health is extremely important.
Michael
(Waiting for the indiscriminate drug use jokes to begin...)  |
Michael
Revised 2008 Goals: Get to 160#s | 1000K
2008 Plan
Live Well 5K 32:28! (5/11) | Htfd Race For The Cure 5K 36:57 (6/7)
Lightfoot 3M 33:25 (6/14), 5M 1:06:10(6/28), New Haven Labor Day 5K 34:58 (9/2)
Manchester Thanksgiving Day Race
2009 Goals
NJ Marathon | New Haven Labor Day 20K | NYC Marathon
"The race goes not always to the swift, but to those that keep running." * ~ Unknown |
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| view log Systematic Chaos |
posted: 4/30/2008 at 3:08 PM |
How about "laughing gas"? I had it for the first time for an oral surgery. Makes you not care anymore.  |
| Run whenever you can, walk if you must, crawl if you have to - but never give up! ........
Raise $2200 and walk 60 miles in 3 days
My 3-day walk
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| view log Its a New Season |
posted: 4/30/2008 at 3:11 PM |
| Quote from JakeKnight on 4/30/2008 at 12:17 PM: There is nothing irrational about fearing pure evil.
I would recommend watching Little Shop of Horrors" prior to your visit. That should do the trick. Steve Martin was the perfect embodiment of a dentist. |
Illegitimis non carborundum
2008 goals:
1) run a fall marathon (Indy)
2) stay injury free
3) PR 5K, 10K, HM & M
4) get my kids to start running with me
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| view log Girl On The Run |
posted: 4/30/2008 at 3:18 PM |
| There are dentists that do sedation dentistry...I think it involves taking something like valium a little while before you get in the chair--in addition to regular local anesthetic. You'd need to have someone drive you home after your appt., but it's probably well worth looking into. |
Kirsten . . . --> GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS <--
• Ladies Locker Room •
.: 2008 Goals :.
• Run 1500 miles
• October 5 - 1st marathon - Milwaukee Lakefront - in my home state of WI
• PRs: 5k ~ 15k ~ 25k |
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posted: 4/30/2008 at 4:49 PM |
I'm terrified of dentists...i hate going! They always ask me if i had a bad childhood experience and up until i was 20 i always said no. Then i mentioned it to my mom and she told me about somethign that happened that apparently i blocked out.
I was about 6 or 7 and we had just moved (prior to this i like my dentist) so i was at a new dentist. When he gave me a shot in my cheeck it hurt and i kept putting my hands up to my face so he put me in one of those kiddie straight jackets (this is a child dentist by the way) well i screamed and my mom finally came in and saw it and took me out of there. We never went back. I remember him pinching my cheek and nothing else!
My last dentist gave me valium to take to calm me down because i'm freaked out even during a regular cleaning and check up. Plus for some reason it takes more shots and longer to get numb and because i'm so scared it goes through my system faster. I've been known to start feeling things before they are done and then have to get another shot!  Needless to say...i try to go as little as possible...or i make my fiance make me an appt LOL...i dont even like calling them!!! |
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posted: 4/30/2008 at 5:55 PM |
| I am also afraid of the dentist. Not something I like to admit but I haven't been to one in about 8 years even for the cleanings. My fear stems from my childhood dentist as well. The dentist used the mouth clamps and would pry my mouth open until it hurt and I would have to stay like that until he was done. The only good thing about that dentist was that they had a table top pac man in the waiting room. I think that the shots are horrible and I am incredibly tense whenever they get near my mouth with a needle. This is the year that I have sworn to my wife to go back to the dentist but I have to find one that uses laughing gas because I don't think I could do it otherwise. |
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| view log Bif! Bam! Pow! |
posted: 4/30/2008 at 7:23 PM |
I hate dental visits also. Last year was the first time in my life that I didnt need follow up work from a visit. I also tend to get sick after a visit, so now I am careful to schedule my visits for AFTER big races.
I just genetically have bad teeth. And now that all the fillings in my teeth are getting pretty old, I have to replace 1-2 a year with crowns. Sigh. At least I have a dentist who can make a decent temporary crown now. My first crown I couldnt eat or run for the 2 weeks I had the temp. |
Beware the Pink Boxing Gloves of DOOM!
"It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds" - Captain Hammer
2008 Goals New PR's in 5K 10K HM, M
Faster than a speeding toddler..... |
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RAer |
posted: 4/30/2008 at 7:44 PM |
| You're not alone. I dread going to the dentist. |
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RAer |
posted: 4/30/2008 at 7:44 PM
modified: 4/30/2008 at 7:44 PM |
| dup. post |
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| view log Member Since 2008 |
posted: 4/30/2008 at 8:53 PM |
| Quote from JakeKnight on 4/30/2008 at 12:17 PM: There is nothing irrational about fearing pure evil.
AMEN Brother.. |
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