Phobic and panicking!!

Am so sorry you are going through this, but am glad you are having sedation. The majority of us have irrational fears, I was held hostage by a house spider yesterday, took me ages to pluck up the courage to pop a bowl over it then slide a piece of card underneath before putting it outside. My heart was beating fast and I came out in a cold sweat. Had to sit down afterwards.
At least your fear involves a procedure that most of us would find a bit nerve wracking.
Would make an appointment with your GP if you are having panic attacks, they might be able to prescribe something temporarily for anxiety.
Wishing you all the best.

I agree with Babs03. Go and see your GP and see if they will prescribe something to deal with anxiety.

I know this isn’t much help to you but I do honestly sympathise as I too panicked at the thought of sedation at the dentist.
It bought back the horrors of my childhood clinic visits, the smell of the rubber apron and the mask over my face.
I found a very sympathetic dentist who held my hand and explained everything to me and promised I would be in a twilight world and dreaming.
I was practically carried in on the dreaded day by my son and again my lovely dentist held my hand and I didn’t even know he had given me the injection, I remember nothing, I didn’t dream, I just opened my eyes and wondered why I was lying on a bed with a nurse saying my name. I was genuinely shocked to be presented with three of my teeth in a plastic pot and told I had been an excellent patient as I had a couple of stitches and I had been out for half an hour.
Please don’t be afraid, find a kind understanding dentist, ask around, meet with them before and I’m sure with gentle breathing exercises you will be fine. My dentist has retired now and I am hoping to find a new one so I’m doing a search at the moment, and I will go through exactly the same as yes I’m still panicking a little but I think we are allowed that.

That's reassuring, unfortunately i have no choice in location. My own dentist doesn't offer sedation. I have tried private and they have criteria also on bmi.
Not that I'm very overweight, but deemed to have a higher bmi than they like.
So I've been referred to the local maxillofacial dept of a local hospital.
This also makes the whole thing seem more daunting as i won't know anyone.

I assume you’ll have someone with you, hopefully they will be reassuring and helpful.

Babs and Monica my GP totally refused to prescribe anything to calm me for a very tricky tooth extraction just point blank refused so hope Narnia has more luck than me

If it’s any consolation Narnia I m scared of the dentist and waiting for the hospital maxillafacial appointment and even the thought gives me the jitters but I ll just have to do it

Jaxjacky

I assume you’ll have someone with you, hopefully they will be reassuring and helpful.

Unfortunately my Husband isn't great with this, he says i need to be a "grown up"
He can't understand how i can't jist get it out with local

Narnia

Jaxjacky

I assume you’ll have someone with you, hopefully they will be reassuring and helpful.

Unfortunately my Husband isn't great with this, he says i need to be a "grown up"
He can't understand how i can't jist get it out with local

Maybe one day his lack of sympathy will come back to bite him.
I feel for you as i was the same before I came across a sympathetic Dentist. Let’s just say he asked me why I was crying 😥
Prior to that I paid to be knocked out by Valium.

The blame for dentist phobia lies firmly at the feet of those vile old school dentist clinics that most kids were sent to. The untold damage both physical and psychological.
Why our parents allowed it ? It has been pointed out many times that “in those days” parents rarely questioned health care professionals … Ha!

My experiences were in the early 1960s and 1970s but since then no sympathy or empathy has been shown or offers made to help “victims” - yes really - by the modern health service.

Granmarderby10

The blame for dentist phobia lies firmly at the feet of those vile old school dentist clinics that most kids were sent to. The untold damage both physical and psychological.
Why our parents allowed it ? It has been pointed out many times that “in those days” parents rarely questioned health care professionals … Ha!

My experiences were in the early 1960s and 1970s but since then no sympathy or empathy has been shown or offers made to help “victims” - yes really - by the modern health service.

Agree 100%. I can clearly remember a dentist telling me to stop screaming or he wouldn't be able to fill my tooth. And this with no anesthetic.

@Narnia, I was just going to add, if your GP offers you anxiety medication, then please tell the dentist as it might affect any anesthetic the dentist uses.

Ive twicehad to have wisdom teeth out at dental hospitals. They are very experienced and reassuring and it was literally over in minutes.I could have had sedation if I wanted.
I understand your fear as I had a very scary experience as a youngsters with a school dentist. As others have said I would go to your doctors and explain the situation and how it is affecting you and perhaps they can prescribe a mild sedative to take beforehand.
Good luck, let us all know how you get on.x

I think that most people of a certain age had horrible experiences with dentists when they were children. They got paid for every procedure they did and consequently, most of us had unnecessary fillings or extractions. Mr Fortunately things are very different these days with both local and full
anesthetic available making the whole experience painless.
Narnia, although I haven’t had full sedation for a tooth extraction I have had it for other procedures and I can promise you that you will feel absolutely nothing. In fact it is actually quite pleasant. I’ve often had the best naps I’ve ever had and it will be over before you know it. Doctors and nurses understand how frightened you are and will be very kind and patient. I promise you it won’t be anywhere as bad as you imagine. Be brave.
We’ll all be thinking of you. Let us know how you get on.

I don’t post very often but do read along. However I couldn’t pass by without saying how much I understand your anxiety. I recently had an infected tooth removed and an implant put in place under sedation. I was really, really panicking and in a real state about this but, in the event, it was just wonderful so I wanted to reassure you that you will really be fine. The medical /dental team do this all day long so however nervous you are they will treat you well and with understanding and the sedation itself (the bit I was most scared about) is just amazing. There is no doubt you will be nervous on the day but in the meantime put it out of your mind and just get on with life because I promise you it will all be fine. You will just drift off and the next thing you know it will all be done. They put something in the sedation that makes you forget what happened so the only bit you will remember will be as you come round and open your eyes. You’ll be a bit ‘waffy’ for the rest of the day but over the next day or so you will gradually get back to normal. I can’t begin to tell you how totally terrified I was but, having been through it, I’d do it again in a heartbeat with not a moment’s hesitation and you will say the same afterwards too. And, yes, it really is a case of better out than in, my tooth had been infected three times and was never going to magically get better! All good wishes to you and come back afterwards just to say I was right!!!

I was chatting to a very nervous lady in the dentist waiting room recently. We agree that people of our age [70] had had the worst of dentistry in our childhood. You never get over it despite dentistry being painless nowadays.

I have a dentist phobia but I never went to a school dentist I went to my mum and dads dentist and presumable he was nice or else they wouldn’t have taken me It can be totally unexplainable

Would hypnotherapy help?

Pigma
Thank you so much for that x

If you have sedation then you won’t know anything about it until you wake up.

Granmarderby10

The blame for dentist phobia lies firmly at the feet of those vile old school dentist clinics that most kids were sent to. The untold damage both physical and psychological.
Why our parents allowed it ? It has been pointed out many times that “in those days” parents rarely questioned health care professionals … Ha!

My experiences were in the early 1960s and 1970s but since then no sympathy or empathy has been shown or offers made to help “victims” - yes really - by the modern health service.

When my sister was 5 we were taken to the clinic, my sister sat in the chair first. The dentist was huge, ginger hair and a red face and hands like bunches of bananas, my sister couldn't even open her mouth and the dentist slapped her!!! There was no way I would have mine checked after that.

My check ups for teeth were then restricted to 'if I can eat a Mars bar and feel no pain then they are fine.

One of my very good friends was a dental nurse and she persuaded me to go to the dentist for a check up before I turned 21 as it was still free. It turned out all my wisdom teeth were breaking through decaying and I was told I needed them all out. My friend was with me whilst I had sedation (needles were another phobia) and I woke up minus 4 teeth, I went straight to work afterwards and my friend did the check ups until they healed. The sedation was marvellous. I now go to the dentist regularly every 6 months and although I still don't like going, it's knowing that the teeth are being looked after and any small problems are nipped in the bud before they can do any real damage.

Happy to put your mind at rest Narnia. Any queries or worries beforehand do come back for reassurance from all the lovely people who have posted on your thread and definitely come back afterwards to tell us how well it went. Sending all best wishes.

Would you consider hypnosis? I mean before the actual appointment. Sessions can help with anxiety. I developed a terrible fear of water, had some hynosis over a few months and it really helped. Also, having been a registered dental surgery assistant, worked with B.D.S. registered, surgeons and orthodontists all highly qualified, in standard practices and hospitals you have nothing to worry about. You will feel much better when the decayed teeth are removed as they can be quite detrimental to your health. Think of the after, not the before.

Hoping you're feeling reassured after reading these posts. I had sedation at the dentist quite a few years ago and was terrified. When I got there and sat in the chair I could see my legs actually shaking. It was absolutely fine! I could hear the dentist and nurse talking but never felt a thing and occasionally dropped off altogether.

4allweknow

Would you consider hypnosis? I mean before the actual appointment. Sessions can help with anxiety. I developed a terrible fear of water, had some hynosis over a few months and it really helped. Also, having been a registered dental surgery assistant, worked with B.D.S. registered, surgeons and orthodontists all highly qualified, in standard practices and hospitals you have nothing to worry about. You will feel much better when the decayed teeth are removed as they can be quite detrimental to your health. Think of the after, not the before.

Can I also put in a plug for Paul McKenna? I’ve downloaded some of his Hypnotic Trance audios - the one for anxiety is great. You need headphones, and also need to put in the time to listen every day for a while until they take effect, then have a top-up at difficult times. This might help if you can’t access/afford private hypnotherapy. The anxiety one is quite generic, but is generally calming. I’ve found a lot of benefit.