Published: March 06, 2008 07:12 pm         

Dentist fear is more than gum deep

SMALL TALK

By Tracy Chesney



A man walked into a dentist’s office and asked the receptionist, “Do you cater to chickens?”

After the receptionist said, “Yes, we even cater to scaredy cats, the man spit out his gum and agreed to let the dentist get to the root of his problem with only on one condition — that he get the laughing gas. Not that the laughing gas was going to make him laugh, but at least he’d calm down to the point of no extractions.

National Dentist’s Day is March 6, and what better way to honor dentists than to give a mouth-full of advice about one of the most well-known fears in the country — the fear of dentists — dentalphobia. By the way, odontophobia is the fear of dental surgery, which I’m sure if people have dentalphobia, they also have odontophobia. The fear of dentists, however, is not a problem that most people can brush off.

Cyndi Oauterbach, a dental assistant at Gentle Dental Care in Greenville, estimated that about 70 percent of the population is scared of dentists.

“The number one thing I hear people say when they come in is that they hate dentists and are terrified of them,” she said. “It usually ends up (that they’re afraid of dentists) because they had a bad experience when they were younger.”

Sarah Rodriquez, 25, has a tremendous fear of dentists, and she said it all stems back to when she was 12 years old. Sarah said that after she had a tooth filled at the dentist, she and her family were headed to Whataburger for lunch, and they were in a car accident.

“For some reason, I associate that wreck with the dentist, and from then on, I’ve been petrified of dentists,” she said. “I know that makes no sense whatsoever, because I was never afraid of dentist before that. But I’ve retained this problem ever since.”

One man, who wanted to remain anonymous because he confessed to be being the chicken of this story, said he now has bonding experiences because he’s upfront with his dentists about his fears.

“When I was getting ready for the doctor to drill my teeth, the assistant asked me if I needed the gas. I said, ‘That depends.” She said, “On what?”

“I said, ‘Whether or not you still need the arm rest on the dentist chair.’ She gave me the gas.”

Jimmy Conners recently had a crown that fell off, and he said he was dreading going to see his dentist. He braced himself, however, for his appointment.

“I’m a walking case of nerves as soon as I walk in the door.” Conners said. “My blood pressure goes way up, and I think they only take my blood pressure because they’re afraid I’m going to die in that dental chair (because of my age).”

Conners said he loves to get the laughing gas, and that’s the only thing that keeps him glued to the chair during a procedure.

“When that gas starts wearing off, they zap me again,” he laughingly said.

Conners, who is a patient of Dr. David Phelps at the Gentle Dental Care, said that he was a little leery of the sign, the “Gentle Dental.”

“I told them that there was something wrong with their sign, because there’s no such thing as a gentle dental,” he said.

Oauaterbach said they often get asked about their dentist’s slogan.

“Patients ask me all the time if that’s really true — if Dr. Phelps really lives up to what his sign says,” she said.

Shelly Ogle, another patient of Dr. Phelps, said that the first time she went to his office she didn’t know what to expect.

“For the past 18 years, I had only gone to the dentist whenever ‘I had’ to,” she said. “I have horrible memories of the dentists from my childhood that has haunted me up until I met Dr. Phelps.”

Oauterbach said that Ogle was terrified when she came in for her first visit.

“She was almost in tears,” Oauterbach said. “We just took it slow with her and made sure that she knew she was in control. She had a bad experience when she was young, and she just thought that every dentist would be like that.

“I believe that the fear of dentists goes back to generations and generations of horror stories,” she said. “And yes, we still get asked the old joke, ‘Where are your pliers?’”