I’m about to take you on a five-part recount of my life. My life has been filled with many ups and downs, including many triumphs and many failures, but the biggest triumph of my life to date was finally getting over my fear of dentists. It was only yesterday that I conquered my lifelong fear, and I’m going to take you back to the start of it, so you know just how much of a big deal this really is.
My fear of dentists started when I was six years old and it became apparent that my back molars weren’t going to form properly. They did X-rays and all that kind of stuff, which scared me enough as it was, but what really threw me over the edge was when they told my parents that I needed cosmetic dentistry services which involved needles and fillings and all-around terror. It was just too much for six year old me. I saw the massive needle they were about to put in my mouth and ran for the door faster than I had ever run before. I’ll never get the image of that gun looking thing out of my mind, even twenty years on.
About a year later I needed dental implants. Bayside, where I lived when I was young, was a great place to be, but the dentists were so on top of my treatment that I was petrified. I couldn’t help but think that they just liked sticking things in my mouth and making it go numb. I begged my parents not to make me get the implants because I seriously thought I’d die on the dentist’s chair. My fear got less intense over the years, seeing as I did eventually stop believing that I’d die from dental work, but it lingered in the front of my mind up until I conquered it yesterday.
How did I conquer my fear you ask? See part two.