How do you feel about dentists?

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Appointment went better than expected. Will have to have two fillings. Small ones I presume as he’s talking about doing it without anaesthetic. Had to pay for treatment as universal credit still to be given the go ahead. Alternative was ticking the UC box and risking £100 fine. Apparently will be able to claim it back when UC is finalised but probably it’s deliberately complicated to do. Appointment for filling will be next available slot after UC is sorted to avoid further costs.

I avoid going to the dentist, to be honest. I always feel sick when I'm there because of all the stuff they put in my mouth. My teeth are very crooked and I probably need braces, and I'm afraid they will tell me that if I go.

I was terrified of them for years. My first few visits as a little kid, I screamed and cried so much they couldn't even get near my mouth. Luckily, they didn't resort to holding me down, but I must've been a particularly aggravating child because they always snapped - and these were pediatric dentists. I got yelled at, pulled into back rooms alone for lectures on "lying." It was bad enough that when I was twelve, and a dentist told me he had to pull a tooth, I went home and pulled it myself. But a couple years later I went to a new office where the people were fantastic. Now I feel more comfortable at the dentist than at home, sensory and anxiety-wise. I'm going to age out of it soon, though...

When I was growing up there were two recurring visits that I dreaded; the dentist and the hairdresser. Now, decades later, the dentist has got better (because they now use anaesthetics) and now my dread of hairdressers outweighs my dread of dentists. For the simple reason that you can't be expected to talk much at the dentist, with a mouth full of bits and pieces, whereas the hairdresser often expects to chat, which I hate. So I cut my own hair.

I am horrified of the dentist not because of pain, or discomfort, but simply because I have a terrible gag reflex and a fear of vomiting. My anxiety manifests itself as nausea and vomiting so it only makes me more anxious and the dentist is probably the worst place in my opinion. A normal 10 minute appointment for most could take an hour for me simply because of how much I will wretch if I am not heavily sedated.

I don't mind dentists. I only avoid them because of the ridiculous amount of money you have to pay.

I don't like having teeth pulled out though. Last time I had a tooth pulled out, I could hear it cracking in my mouth as they were pulling it out, and it sounded so gross and freaky.

My mom wouldn't pay for anaesthetic for fillings, to discourage me from eating candy. It didn't work. I endure dentistry about as well as other invasive medical work, but I'm now very cautious about the bills. Far too many of the younger ones, with huge debt loads, try to hard-sell the most expensive work. Porcelain caps are expensive, brittle garbage. One place was charging me about $12 per sandwich chewed to glue them in, and then destroyed one with a botched post addition. Years later, I tried another place with an appointment specifically to have another one re-glued, and walked out with a bill for $280 for X-rays, and an estimate of $4000 to fix it, starting with an extraction. I had wisely turned that down, and found another dentist who fixed that tooth and another, similar one for $2k. I couldn't even get good copies of those expensive X-rays for the new dentist.

Never, ever trust a for-profit enterprise without hard evidence. When I got the recommendation for the good dentist, I said I'd give her a try, and then my friend followed me outside into a bitter cold wind to spend another five minutes singing her praises. Still, he won't touch popcorn.