Fear of the dentist is something that hundreds of thousands
of people in the world share. The reason for this is obvious – people are
afraid to experience pain. They are willing to experience pain because of their
decayed teeth, but at least it is the kind of pain that is familiar to them.
With a dentist, though, the possible pain comes from an unknown source and
inflicted by an outside entity – the dentist.
Thus, for both physical and
psychological purposes, people are extremely afraid of trips to the dental
clinic.
For me though, my fear of the dentist dates back to the
first time I had a tooth extraction session. There I was on the dental chair,
confident that I won’t feel any pain after being reassured by my parents and
the dentist herself. I had multiple decayed teeth to be extracted, so it would
take like 1 or 2 shots of anaesthetics to numb the nerves that give sensation
to the decayed teeth.
The injections went on fine. After that, the dentist
proceeded to the pulling of the first tooth. The decayed tooth was extracted successfully!
However, when the dentist started to pull the second tooth, I felt a sharp
tingling pain on my gums! It hurt like hell, as if the nerves are being pulled
without being numbed at all! When the dentist tried to find out what’s wrong,
he soon discovered that underneath the gums, there is still a hidden pocket of
abscess left and some minor swelling. This is the reason why the anaesthetics
didn’t work fully on that particular tooth. I was asked to come back after
several days until the abscess and swelling has completely subsided.
Experiences like these are the reason why many people will
refuse to visit a dentist despite the fact that they have to. In my case, I had
to muster enough courage to go back to the clinic after several days. And if I
was able to have that tooth extracted when I came back, it took me years to
visit an oral health practitioner again.
Eventually though, I soon find
out that cases like mine are rare. It is rare for patients to feel pain while
under the influence of local anaesthesia. Come to think of it. Just because a
plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, you shouldn’t avoid riding planes
altogether. The same thing applies with going to the dentist.
By the way, if you are looking for options regarding
dental sedation in Sydney, visit Dr. Walker's clinic located in Australia.