Fearaphobia

by Bronwyn Jameson

I am a bonafide scaredy-cat. With a bargain basement threshold for pain, both physical and emotional, I am a wimp. There is no denying it.

With that out of the way, I herewith present a non-comprehensive list of things I fear:

1. Mice. In fact, any small rodent that moves with speed and stealth. Or just sits in the corner twitching its whiskers at me. 
2. The big three c’s: conflict, confrontation, criticism. (One of my top strengths is HARMONY. Big surprise, huh?)
3. Having blood taken (I just can’t.) 
4. Spiders. Sooo. Many. Legs. 
5. Driving onto railway tracks and getting stuck (a new fear, brought on by last night’s techno-vivid dream.) 
6. Social media. This used to be my happy place but now…no.  Refer #2. 
7. Snakes. 
8. Dentists. Or, more accurately, dentists’ chairs. 

#8 inspired this post, courtesy of last week’s toothache. Why do these always come a’knockin’ on weekends? Or, in this case, on a Friday night? By Monday I was a quivering wreck. I called my dentist, who gave me that day’s emergency slot. No time to reconsider, to dose myself on heavy-duty painkillers and tell myself I could live with the pain.

*Not actually me!

To be honest, my dentist is super-lovely. And kind. She has a knack for distracting me with engaging conversation and before I know it, BAM! I’m in the dreaded (although, really quite comfortable) chair and being handed the sunglasses and asked to open wide. The soothing hand on my shoulder suggests that fear is clearly visible in my posture, my expression, my five-fingernail grip on each chair-arm.

Oh, yes. The terror is real. Even before there is any diagnosis, any prodding, any of that intense cold thingamy used for diagnosis. You know the one? When it hits the sensitive tooth, you lift a foot out of the chair and the dentist says, “Found it!” After some discussion, I left with a prescription for Panadeine Forte and an appointment with an oral surgeon.

I am now minus a tooth, minus the pain, and listening to a voicemail from my dentist checking up on the surgery. She is super-nice but I don’t want to see her again any time soon.

*Not me either!

I mentioned HARMONY as one of my strengths, as per StrengthsFinder. Also in my top 4 are INTELLECTION, INPUT and ANALYTICAL which means I was pathologically obliged to google Most Common Fears. And to read somewhere around 35 different lists. I can report that I do not fear any of these common phobias:

1. Flying
2. Thunderstorms 
3. Dogs 
4. The dark 
5. Germs and dirt 
6. Needles/injections (except when that needle is drawing blood.) 

Do you have any fears or phobias?  Have you recently had to face one?  I hope you didn't end up a quivering wreck like me!

Tooth Fairy!

by Sharon Archer

Smile!

The title of this post is completely misleading but I couldn't resist... and I'm pleased to say that I haven't had to put any offerings under my pillow to tempt the tooth fairy! 

I'm here to talk dentists! And to confess I'm a quivering jelly when it comes to visiting one.  Several really bad experiences have all left their mark. The low lights - wisdom teeth (all out before I turned eighteen), miscellaneous extractions in the days when that was the preferred option to straighten teeth and one very unpleasant experience at a dental school with a needle when I was 5 years old.  I've fainted in the dentist chair on two occasions.

Needless to say, visiting the dentist hasn't featured high on my list of fun things to do.  But a few years ago, I realised I couldn't put of going any longer so I asked around and found my new tooth expert.

I still don't like going to see him but I do like his approach to dental care.

My latest visit was to his hygienist!  She is a Tartar Titan!  All alien mouth forms will be found and ruthlessly eliminated!

I spent the morning before the visit, flossing and brushing and NOT eating chocolate!  I'm actually pretty good with my tooth care but there's something about knowing the enamel will be examined under the microscope that makes me want to polish each millimetre meticulously.

I learned that I have an overbite, retrograde lower incisors, and that she could tell I was right handed because I don't do quite as well at cleaning the back molars on the upper left-hand side.  Have to work on that!

She discovered an ultra-sensitive spot on one of my molars and had to scrape me off the ceiling back into the chair.  That spot was 'painted' with a super-fluoride treatment which tasted suspiciously banana-ry.

Anyway, I'm thrilled to say that all is going well with my teeth and I'm doing a pretty good job of maintaining them.  My reward was a 'show bag' containing tooth-related goodies!  a tooth brush, a small tube of toothpaste and the cutest little floss!

How about you?  Any scary dental stories?  Does the thought of a visit to the dentist have your knees quaking?