Irrational Fear of the Dentist

WickedLou9 · 01-31-2008, 04:21 PM

So I hate the dentist. After I left college I sort of decided that I just wasn't going to go anymore. I take care of my teeth. I brush, floss and rinse with Listerine. So my wife finally forced me to go and made an appointment for me. I was pretty scared. I figured they they would find thousands of dollars worth of work that needed to be done. So I went and they did a full workup as I was a new patient. They took X-rays of everything and went over my history.

They found nothing. I have not been for a cleaning in probably 7 years and there was not a thing wrong with any of my teeth.

So let this be a lesson to you people with irrational fears of the dentist. You don't actually need to go. Just take care of your teeth and never go to the dentist again.

Publius · 01-31-2008, 04:23 PM

Thorgrim · 01-31-2008, 04:32 PM

actually that's just a silly anecdote (no offense)

I have a relative who is religous about brushing her teeth/flossing, looks to be in great dental shape, but she just got bad teeth genes and has cavity after cavity, and without a dentist she gets severe dental problems

my brother, on the other hand, uses mouth wash and never even touches a tooth brush

not one cavity, and the dentist tells him everytime "your teeth look great" i guess my particular slice of the family has good teeth genes

Roonie · 01-31-2008, 04:55 PM

I have great teeth genes as I have never had a cavity and never had braces or any dental work done except wisdom teeth pulled. My dentist is always amazed evertime I go to him. He keeps telling me one of these days my saliva will change and I will start to get cavities. I have yet to see it, but I do try to brush everyday with Sonicare but rarely floss maybe once every three months. I rarely eat candy or sugar so maybe that helps too.

WickedLou9 · 01-31-2008, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

actually that's just a silly anecdote (no offense)

I have a relative who is religous about brushing her teeth/flossing, looks to be in great dental shape, but she just got bad teeth genes and has cavity after cavity, and without a dentist she gets severe dental problems

my brother, on the other hand, uses mouth wash and never even touches a tooth brush

not one cavity, and the dentist tells him everytime "your teeth look great" i guess my particular slice of the family has good teeth genes

yeah I know it's not really good advice. That's why I put the little gay smiley after it.

kinggovernor · 01-31-2008, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

So I hate the dentist. After I left college I sort of decided that I just wasn't going to go anymore. I take care of my teeth. I brush, floss and rinse with Listerine. So my wife finally forced me to go and made an appointment for me. I was pretty scared. I figured they they would find thousands of dollars worth of work that needed to be done. So I went and they did a full workup as I was a new patient. They took X-rays of everything and went over my history.

They found nothing. I have not been for a cleaning in probably 7 years and there was not a thing wrong with any of my teeth.

So let this be a lesson to you people with irrational fears of the dentist. You don't actually need to go. Just take care of your teeth and never go to the dentist again.

this is what I do too, every year the military dentist tells me I have great teeth too. I spent 5 years in braces and thus hate the dentist.

DosEquis · 01-31-2008, 05:58 PM

I have never had a cavity. I haven't been to the dentist in about 4 years or so. I just hate going in general. My grill is fine. Its one of those, if it aint broke it doesn't need fixed type of deals.

Publius · 01-31-2008, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by DosEquis

I have never had a cavity. I haven't been to the dentist in about 4 years or so. I just hate going in general. My grill is fine. Its one of those, if it aint broke it doesn't need fixed type of deals.

Ive never had a cavity, never had braces, hell even my wisdom teeth have grown in just fine.

Scrum · 01-31-2008, 07:09 PM

Wow.

I had over $10K worth of Dental work done in '06 and about half that in '07. I still have about $30K left to do. Root Canal/Crowns on every tooth in my head. At least my dentist isn't shy about giving me vicodin when I ask for it.

My teeth are horrible. I didn't do a great job of taking care of them when I was younger, but I do well now and it doesn't really help. A lot of my problems come from a PH imbalance in my mouth that eats away a lot of the enamel.

Stylerod · 02-01-2008, 12:32 AM

I need to go. I used to go religiously every 6 months. My dentist even had my same exact name except for one letter in the last name.

Then I missed an appointment because I was in Germany. Yeah, I need to reschedule that appointment. It's been about 9 years....

Stylerod · 02-01-2008, 12:33 AM

Originally Posted by Scrum

Wow.

I had over $10K worth of Dental work done in '06 and about half that in '07. I still have about $30K left to do. Root Canal/Crowns on every tooth in my head. At least my dentist isn't shy about giving me vicodin when I ask for it.

My teeth are horrible. I didn't do a great job of taking care of them when I was younger, but I do well now and it doesn't really help. A lot of my problems come from a PH imbalance in my mouth that eats away a lot of the enamel.

That sucks. Do you still smoke too?

avsp · 02-01-2008, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

actually that's just a silly anecdote (no offense) [... snip]

well thats as maybe, ..., but i'm just glad its not a WL tale of a visit to some other kind of medical specialist {insert scatological smilie here}

Originally Posted by Scrum

[ ... snip] A lot of my problems come from a PH imbalance in my mouth that eats away a lot of the enamel.

how does that come about?
surely this could be remedied by chewing the right stuff?

my back teef were stained orange even before they appeared by medicine for childhood illnesses, ..., indeed all the kids at the local school were in a similar situation

Years later dentists offered to re-colour them, ..., but i decided to save M Thatcher the money

as a young teen i wore a brace that attaced to a skull cap via elastic bands, its looked very victorian in a NFL kind of way, ..., i wouldnt mind but my teef still arent that well aligned, (as UK law dictates, ..., obviously)

I can still chew ice-cubes & neat sugar without pain so i dont worry, ..., though its got to be 10 years since my last x-ray

Fear of dentists isnt exactly irrational as it can hurt

motivez · 02-01-2008, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by Stylerod

I need to go. I used to go religiously every 6 months. My dentist even had my same exact name except for one letter in the last name.

Then I missed an appointment because I was in Germany. Yeah, I need to reschedule that appointment. It's been about 9 years....

Publius · 02-01-2008, 01:00 PM

my teeth are little yellowed from lots of coffee drinking ... Ive been on an intensive whitening effort recently to try and get 'em pearly white for the cameras.

motivez · 02-01-2008, 01:57 PM

I always wondered if that over the counter shit worked, mine aren't as white as I'd like them to be (used to smoke, still likes my coffee)

How's it going?

Scrum · 02-01-2008, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by Stylerod

That sucks. Do you still smoke too?

Yes

Publius · 02-01-2008, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by motivez

I always wondered if that over the counter shit worked, mine aren't as white as I'd like them to be (used to smoke, still likes my coffee)

How's it going?

I just started a few days ago, can't really tell much yet. Im brushing twice a day with whitening toothpaste (using my electric toothbrush) and some of those melt-away strips.

jimeigh · 02-01-2008, 02:40 PM

avsp, you are almost as hilarious as prometheus. cheers.

WickedLou9 · 02-01-2008, 03:02 PM

republicans should not have white teeth. They should have teeth stained brown with skoal and the blood of terrorists. Only tea drinking liberals in thier ivory towers should have white teeth. Those mamby pambies

Publius · 02-01-2008, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

republicans should not have white teeth. They should have teeth stained brown with skoal and the blood of terrorists. Only tea drinking liberals in thier ivory towers should have white teeth. Those mamby pambies

what about libertarians?