Like so many others, I have fears. Some of them are more extreme than others. However a MAJOR fear of mine has always been...(brace for it)...the dentist! That's right; Next to spiders, heights and death, it is the most common phobia for most.
"So what?!", you all ask.
Well, I'm here to hopefully motivate people who have a very similar fear as myself so they can have better quality of life.
Despite this likely falling on deaf ears, I feel so strongly about it that I'd like to at least have my thoughts on it recorded ("forever") online.
A little backstory...
As a kid, like most I thought I was invincible and basically never brushed my teeth (gross I know). My mom tried her hardest to have it integrated in my routine but it just never caught. I would do it steadily for a week or two and then stop caring. Oddly enough though despite my love for food and sweets, I never got cavities so I thought myself orally invincible.
Flash forward to 2008, I'm now 18 years old and my tooth chips, I think nothing of it and leave it. Throughout the years I'd notice more and more plaque showing up, more and more pieces of tooth breaking off and bleeding gums galore. Nasty I know.
Then it happened. 2014 happened. A large chunk of my tooth falls out and I am in AGONY. The pain is sharp and hot, like a heated blade being pushed in my gums. I book an EMERGENCY appointment with the dentist. But just my luck, the day before going the pain just...went away. I'm guessing either the nerves just died or maybe healed to some extent by itself. Nothing for months. 9 months or so later, same thing.
Because of my fear of getting it resolved, I never saw a specialist. Fear does silly things to your mind. I've had people in my life say "Do it for your kids!", "Do it for your health!" and even as far as teaching me that tooth issues are often linked directly to heart disease. But none of that matters.
"Screw you, I'm scared".
Now it's 2019, I'm with the love of my life and I will explain why that's important later. ALL my wisdom teeth at this point have rotted to the point where they are mostly just jagged blades in the back of my mouth. 2 of my other teeth were so rotted away that the nerve was exposed and caused excruciating pain for weeks on end. FINALLY it was enough. She saw my pain, being almost in tears because of the pain. Not able to eat, sleep, focus or anything. I was a complete wreck. So SHE called and made me an appointment.
I have to admit I wasn't happy with her. But when she sat down and explained to me how much it hurt her to see me that way I finally gave in. Next thing you know I'm at the office being assessed and they tell me I need all 4 wisdom teeth removed and the two other ones. I panic. Not only have I never been sedated before, but I've never had an IV placed on me either. I'm not happy. However, she reassures me and at this point I just don't care anymore because of the pain and I'm really willing to do anything.
Operation Day.
I'm given two Ativan to calm me down. I sit, they enter the IV, and off I go to sleep. I woke up confused, sleepy but good. They prescribed me pain meds to start taking right away and sent me home. The pain I felt during recovery wasn't even close to the pain of the tooth itself. It's now been 3 weeks since the operation and I'm 100% feeling fine. This whole experience really showed me that often the fear of getting something done to better your life is worse than what the procedure actually is.
If you can take away ANYTHING from this would honestly be:
DON'T WAIT, JUST DO IT.
You will thank yourself later. Take it from someone who suffered needlessly for years out of sheer stubborness and fear. It's not worthit, get it done.
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