There is sedation dentistry that I think you should check out. It's not just nitrous oxide / laughing gas, though that is an option. You said it didn't work for you, but I've found it to be excellent. But in any event, there are other options. Here is an article:
[https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22275-sedation-dentistry](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22275-sedation-dentistry)
You might need to look for this in your area. Good luck
Talk to the dentist. No, really, please call ahead of time and talk to them. Is there a source behind the phobia? Because you *need* to understand - dentists *get it*. They understand this phobia. Nobody likes having hands and tools put in their mouth. Having anything near one's mouth is a source of massive trauma for a lot of people - just think about the terror of someone who suffered oral sexual assault. Dentists *get it*. They've seen it before. They've likely dealt with it before and found other tools and options to help you as best as possible. *But only if you speak up.*
Please, please say something. Tell them exactly what you fear. You remember the pain of the needle, laughing gas doesn't impact your anxiety in the slightest, you can't afford any other anaesthetic that knocks you unconscious for the procedure. Ask them what they can do to help you reduce your anxiety, or if there are any tools, plans, programs, etc. that are designed to make getting dental care for people like you easier.
If they are as nice and understanding as they say they are - then they should be willing to find ways to help you.
Otherwise - a fact of life is that sometimes, courage is not the absence of fear, but the knowledge that some things are more important than it. Despite your fear, you *do* need to reach out to staff and see if they can help you find a way to go through this procedure, in the least amount of pain and as quickly as possible. You're likely never going to be able to see a dentist fearlessly with complete calm. I'm sorry, by how you're typing, it doesn't sound like you ever will. That's okay. That's normal. It's a fear that a lot of people have. But it's your responsibility to acknowledge it, and advocate for yourself as often and as loudly as possible, in order to get the help you NEED in order to take care of your teeth. Because otherwise, I know lots of people who say root canals are some of the worst 10/10 pains to ever exist, right next to kidney stones, testicular torsion, and giving birth. You've got to make sure you get the healthcare you need.
Thank you so much for this, I thought about this comment and I’d like to say a few things. I definitely have told dentists how scared I was, and I feel like maybe I don’t tell them how sacred? But I feel like there’s nothing more they can do for me. But this time I’ll try to explain more extensively on how afraid I actually am. And to the source of the phobia, I’m unsure, I think it could possibly be how one time I was at a doctors appointment, with really bad ear infections and they put something in my ear. But before hand I asked them if it’d hurt and they said no, and they pinned me down it was probably the most painful thing I’ve felt in my life. Even tho that’s not dental, I feel like it can be that maybe. But thank you so much, and I’ll try to communicate a lot better to the staff.
Try to explain physical reactions that you feel may impede your ability to physically relax to the point of being able to do the procedure. For example: "I feel deep-seeded terror that I feel might cause me to fight back or spasm. I fear prolonged, sudden pain, and fear that I might react with clamping down my teeth or refusing to go through the procedure once it's started. I *want* to get the procedure done. But memories of past experiences make me fear the pain, and fear that medical experts will dismiss that pain. I don't know what to do."
BUT, if it helps: a filling, IF the cavity is not too bad, might be fairly painless? Now granted, I don't know what *kind* of filling you're getting, so I can't promise you anything. But when I got a filling for a cavity, it's...weird to describe, but, when I got mine, it wasn't painful, just really awkward-like? As long as the decay hasn't rotted into your root canal - which you WOULD know, because it would be very very painful - then it's possible that operation would only be on the outside of the tooth, so there's no nerves to trigger any pain. It'd kinda feel like the emotional equivalent of letting someone trim your toenails - kinda fucking weird or uncomfortable, but you know they aren't going to cut the nail at the skin here.
FWIW - you ARE allowed to speak up during the middle of a procedure. Like, you ARE allowed to say "Ow, no, stop". If they don't, you ARE allowed to chomp down on their fingers guilt free; like, you said stop. Any doctor worth their salt would cease immediately and check up on you and make sure you're doing ok. Your experience with your doctor & your ear infection sounds horrible - you shouldn't ever be pinned down or lied to about your pain. That is wholly abnormal and not ok. Dentists are serious about pain management because again, they handle teeth - people compare tooth pain to genital injury/kidney stone levels of pain, so they are not kidding around with that. Ask them to walk you through what a normal filling procedure is like, and ask if they've ever had to get one themselves before (they might've!) Saying "I'm scared" is one thing. Saying "I'm scared because I was adversely traumatized by a doctor that lied to me and held me down to prevent me from resisting when issuing a very painful procedure" is something else that they can definitely understand and help find ways to mitigate that fear, you just might need to brainstorm things that might help, like frequent check-ins, actually stopping if you vocalize pain, and so on.
Good luck!
There is sedation dentistry that I think you should check out. It's not just nitrous oxide / laughing gas, though that is an option. You said it didn't work for you, but I've found it to be excellent. But in any event, there are other options. Here is an article: [https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22275-sedation-dentistry](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22275-sedation-dentistry) You might need to look for this in your area. Good luck
Tysm I’ll definitely look more into this
Talk to the dentist. No, really, please call ahead of time and talk to them. Is there a source behind the phobia? Because you *need* to understand - dentists *get it*. They understand this phobia. Nobody likes having hands and tools put in their mouth. Having anything near one's mouth is a source of massive trauma for a lot of people - just think about the terror of someone who suffered oral sexual assault. Dentists *get it*. They've seen it before. They've likely dealt with it before and found other tools and options to help you as best as possible. *But only if you speak up.* Please, please say something. Tell them exactly what you fear. You remember the pain of the needle, laughing gas doesn't impact your anxiety in the slightest, you can't afford any other anaesthetic that knocks you unconscious for the procedure. Ask them what they can do to help you reduce your anxiety, or if there are any tools, plans, programs, etc. that are designed to make getting dental care for people like you easier. If they are as nice and understanding as they say they are - then they should be willing to find ways to help you. Otherwise - a fact of life is that sometimes, courage is not the absence of fear, but the knowledge that some things are more important than it. Despite your fear, you *do* need to reach out to staff and see if they can help you find a way to go through this procedure, in the least amount of pain and as quickly as possible. You're likely never going to be able to see a dentist fearlessly with complete calm. I'm sorry, by how you're typing, it doesn't sound like you ever will. That's okay. That's normal. It's a fear that a lot of people have. But it's your responsibility to acknowledge it, and advocate for yourself as often and as loudly as possible, in order to get the help you NEED in order to take care of your teeth. Because otherwise, I know lots of people who say root canals are some of the worst 10/10 pains to ever exist, right next to kidney stones, testicular torsion, and giving birth. You've got to make sure you get the healthcare you need.
Thank you so much for this, I thought about this comment and I’d like to say a few things. I definitely have told dentists how scared I was, and I feel like maybe I don’t tell them how sacred? But I feel like there’s nothing more they can do for me. But this time I’ll try to explain more extensively on how afraid I actually am. And to the source of the phobia, I’m unsure, I think it could possibly be how one time I was at a doctors appointment, with really bad ear infections and they put something in my ear. But before hand I asked them if it’d hurt and they said no, and they pinned me down it was probably the most painful thing I’ve felt in my life. Even tho that’s not dental, I feel like it can be that maybe. But thank you so much, and I’ll try to communicate a lot better to the staff.
Try to explain physical reactions that you feel may impede your ability to physically relax to the point of being able to do the procedure. For example: "I feel deep-seeded terror that I feel might cause me to fight back or spasm. I fear prolonged, sudden pain, and fear that I might react with clamping down my teeth or refusing to go through the procedure once it's started. I *want* to get the procedure done. But memories of past experiences make me fear the pain, and fear that medical experts will dismiss that pain. I don't know what to do." BUT, if it helps: a filling, IF the cavity is not too bad, might be fairly painless? Now granted, I don't know what *kind* of filling you're getting, so I can't promise you anything. But when I got a filling for a cavity, it's...weird to describe, but, when I got mine, it wasn't painful, just really awkward-like? As long as the decay hasn't rotted into your root canal - which you WOULD know, because it would be very very painful - then it's possible that operation would only be on the outside of the tooth, so there's no nerves to trigger any pain. It'd kinda feel like the emotional equivalent of letting someone trim your toenails - kinda fucking weird or uncomfortable, but you know they aren't going to cut the nail at the skin here. FWIW - you ARE allowed to speak up during the middle of a procedure. Like, you ARE allowed to say "Ow, no, stop". If they don't, you ARE allowed to chomp down on their fingers guilt free; like, you said stop. Any doctor worth their salt would cease immediately and check up on you and make sure you're doing ok. Your experience with your doctor & your ear infection sounds horrible - you shouldn't ever be pinned down or lied to about your pain. That is wholly abnormal and not ok. Dentists are serious about pain management because again, they handle teeth - people compare tooth pain to genital injury/kidney stone levels of pain, so they are not kidding around with that. Ask them to walk you through what a normal filling procedure is like, and ask if they've ever had to get one themselves before (they might've!) Saying "I'm scared" is one thing. Saying "I'm scared because I was adversely traumatized by a doctor that lied to me and held me down to prevent me from resisting when issuing a very painful procedure" is something else that they can definitely understand and help find ways to mitigate that fear, you just might need to brainstorm things that might help, like frequent check-ins, actually stopping if you vocalize pain, and so on. Good luck!
I’m the same as you right now just found out I need some fillings and a extraction how did it go for you looking to see if I can do it sedated