How do you get over severe dental anxiety?

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Hi everyone, I’m writing this post to get some advice and honestly to hold myself accountable. I haven’t been to the dentist in almost four years, and I know I am way overdue for a proper cleaning and checkup.

My problem isn’t that I’m lazy; it’s that I have severe dental anxiety. Just the thought of sitting in that chair, hearing the sound of the tools, and having someone look inside my mouth makes my stomach turn. I had a really bad, painful experience with a dentist when I was a teenager, and ever since then, I’ve just avoided going entirely.

Luckily, I’m not in any major pain right now, but I noticed a small dark spot on one of my back molars last week. I know that if I keep ignoring it, a simple cavity is going to turn into a painful root canal or something much worse.

I’ve been forcing myself to look up clinics that specialize in handling nervous patients. I was reading through the patient comfort and care philosophy on https://lombardiyerskydental.com/ and it was actually pretty reassuring to see how much modern dentistry focuses on keeping people relaxed, rather than just rushing them through the appointment.

I want to finally make the call this week, but I’m terrified. For anyone else who used to suffer from major dental phobia, how did you mentally prepare for your first visit back? Do you tell the receptionist upfront that you are scared, and do modern dentists mind if you listen to music or a podcast during the cleaning to distract yourself? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

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