How to Overcome Fear of the Dentist

Preface At age 15 I sat at a table over a plate of my favorite meal, the smell heightened my anticipation of the upcoming meal. It was my favorite meal, the national dish. I was so hungry that I could anticipate the wonderful taste of the food from its smell. I took a bite and started to chew, the meal was delicious. Suddenly and without warning, a pain like a lightning strike violently shot through my head and tears came to my eyes. The food had lodged in this large hole in my tooth and the pain was unbearable. I could not eat the rest of my meal and I went to bed hungry and in pain: continuous throbbing pain. I grew up in an area with non-fluoridated water and being a “macho male”, I thought flossing was something you did when meat got caught between your teeth. I was even skeptical about getting my teeth cleaned because I thought the dentist would remove some of my enamel and make my teeth weaker. I was experiencing constant pain and had no choice but to go to the dentist. I went to the dentist and he declared that I had eleven cavities and he would be happy to “pull” them all. He advised me to come see him every Friday and he would extract a tooth each week until the job was done. He pulled one of my back teeth every week and on the third visit I knew I would not return. I did not go back to that dentist but he made an indelible impression on me. I remember him saying “You will only feel a little pinch” and “Be a man!” It was a scary experience but the impression it made on my mind stayed with me for a lifetime. I was scared of the dentist and the dental office. Three weeks of dental trauma created a lifetime of dental phobia for me but it also determined my career. I decided that I would become a dentist, and I would find a better way. It also made me an almost obsessive-compulsive brusher, and that helped me reduce the amount of cavities throughout my teen years. Dental cavities were under control but at age 22 I was diagnosed with early periodontal disease in my first year of dental school. I went through five sessions with the hygienist to control the inflammation and twenty seven years later, I still have all of my remaining teeth. Since graduating from dental school in 1986, I have been “preaching the religion of preventive dentistry” and finding ways to help dental phobic patients cope with their fears. Ringing in my ears over all these years were the words I muttered during and after my extraction dental visits “There must be a better way!” In retrospect I would like to thank the dentist who gave me a case of dental phobia, and fueled my desire to come up with a better way. It has led me to zealously pursue continuing dental education in order to find a better way. I have been on several mission trips to third world countries; I did two years of general practice hospital dentistry; I taught in a hospital dental program part time for ten years; worked in a prison for a year and a half; attended a one year Maxicourse on implant dentistry; and I pursued credentials with three dental organizations. I still strive to do more. I wish to take a moment now to explain what the letters behind my name indicates. M.A.G.D - Mastership in the Academy of General Dentistry requires at least 1100 hours of continuing education, including a written examination after the first 500 hours, which gives you the status of Fellowship. Upon completion of the next 600 hours, 400 of which are participation courses you are awarded Mastership. A.F.A.A.I.D - Associate Fellow in the American Academy of Implant Dentistry required passing a written exam, recording successful implant cases and then completing and oral exam. D.D.O.C.S - Diplomate in the Dental Organization for Conscious Sedation required writing numerous articles, recording several hundred cases of sedated patients, passing exams in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, professional recommendations, and taking numerous classes. This credential is open to those members who had already achieved Fellowship in the organization. I do not consider myself to be a better dentist than those who do not have my credentials, but I know that I am a better dentist than I would have been had I not pursued additional training in order to find “a better way.”