I really have to figure out something to post on my Facebook wall other than food pictures.
It hurts a lot and unlike many painful procedures, it frequently reoccurs.
If you are not hard to numb, if you don’t have bad teeth, if you’ve never had a truly incompetant/mean dentist (the kind that would strap you down as a child because they “don’t believe” it hurts), then you really don’t know what dentally-anxious people have experienced, and you should thank your lucky stars!!
Also, if the idea of the dentist or dental hygienist thinking badly of you because of the state of your teeth, or the dentist lecturing or criticizing you, or crying in the dentist’s office and having the dentist think badly of you for that don’t freak you out, thank your lucky stars you don’t have that particular anxiety. I do, and so do some other dentally anxious people.
Yes, it’s irrational, but that’s one of the defining characteristics of phobias. It’s also a reason why phobias can be very frustrating to have. We know our anxiety is irrational, but knowing that doesn’t make one whit of difference to how much anxiety we feel. It’s not like a normal anxiety, where you can sometimes talk yourself out of feeling so frightened.
I was going to recommend that site, LouiseB. Also the people on the forum? Awesomely awesome. Very helpful, and I’m not even truly phobic, but just very very scared.
Your receptionist was crazy in her description of what the valium would do, in my opinion!
I have a severe needle phobia and I found a dentist willing to work with me so that I could get my cavities and root canal taken care of.
We settled on a combo of one valium an hour before, then nitrous during. The dentist told me the valium might make the nitrous work a little bit better, which I was fine with. The valium just BARELY took the edge of my anxiety, but the nitrious was gold. I remembered everything and there was no sleeping off. I was so un-drowsy that I really didn’t think the separate driver was necessary, but I’m a good girl so I had my husband drive me anyway. The valium really was so ineffective that for my last appointment I didn’t even take it, just told them to give me a litle extra nitrous and I was fine, and I drove myself.
Also, don’t worry about seeming like a weenie. For what it’s worth, when I asked for extra nitrious because I didn’t have the valium and wanted to make sure I got good and stoned, she gassed me so hard I actually was having fun during the middle. Go for it!