Well here I am despite what I had convinced myself life does go on after a dentist appointment. I took my husband with me and made him stay beside me every step of the way. Was it as bad as I had imagined - probably not. Was it easy - definitely not. I did have a major panic attack last night and ended up walking the streets trying to calm myself down, and not surprisingly I had very little sleep. I woke up this morning determined not to go but my husband said you have made it this far don't stop now. I also had anxiety walking up the stairs to the dentist office and decided to bolt but again my husband said go in, talk and see if you feel comfortable letting him look. When I got into the office I guess I looked scared because the receptionist said "Don't worry we really are nice people" I am trying to decide if I liked the dentist or not. I did feel he was putting alot of emphasis on how my teeth looked cosmetically and I told him that I was at the point of only being able to deal with "required" procedures but he did refer me to a orthodontic specialist because my teeth are so crowded it is causing gum issues. But that is another hurdle to deal with another day. He did say a couple of things that I thought were inconsiderate like "a few simple extractions" and then asked if my "fear would stop me from having jaw re constructive surgery". I felt like he was belittling my fear. My husband said that he was trying to use positive words like "simple" in order to keep me calm. The good points are: 1. I did it and believe me if I can so can other people. 2. The dental hygienist was very nice and treated me with respect. 3. My teeth aren't as bad as I had imagined in my head so now I can let that go, one of my biggest worries was always that the dentist was going to be horrified. 4. The dentist, in all fairness, was not a monster - and I told him that on the way out. I think he really did have my best interest in mind? Thank you all for your encouragement and please post to me if you want to talk about upcoming appointments, I can now say I have been there.
My dentist appointment (meet and greet only) is tomorrow and fear has set in. I am having what I call rolling panic attacks which to me means as soon as I talk myself through and feel a bit better I start to have another one. I slept about 3 hours last night and woke up with a headache. None of this is unusual for me but I thought I had it under control a little this past week. As soon as I realized that it is tomorrow everything hit me full force. I tried to talk to my husband about it but he said that I am an adult now and not a child. Wow did that hurt. I know he is getting tired of this but so am I. I try to explain it to him but he says that it is just my fear talking. He says just to go and deal with it. I am in the I don't want to go I don't care if my teeth fall out. I would rather die than go tomorrow and have to hear about how bad my teeth and gums are and how much work needs to be done. I have been trying to keep myself busy today but just keep zoning out and going back to my appointment tomorrow. How do I get through this without endangering myself or the baby I am carrying?
