Intense Embarrassment: What To Do About It

Intense embarrassment from poor oral health is the most common cause of dental phobia. This has become a part of vicious cycle starting from poor dental experience which leads to the person avoiding dental checkups, resulting in poor oral health, and finally becoming embarrassed to even step into the dentist’s office for proper dental care. Some people will even refuse to see the dentist despite the pain from toothaches and gum diseases.

The first step to conquer the fear of embarrassment during a visit to the dentist is to understand that the dentist have seen much worse teeth than you do. The chance that your dentist will even be shocked after seeing your teeth is really slim. Try to search for some pictures in Google and you’ll see how bad some people’s teeth are (okay, maybe you have something similar to the pictures, but still…there should be someone worse off than you are, right?). Dentists have seen the blackest of teeth and even people without any teeth at all so I highly doubt your teeth will shock the dentist more than any other patient.

If it would ease your guilt, then it would be good to know that oral health and dental hygiene are not always connected. There are people who brush their teeth properly, twice or thrice a day, and still suffer from tooth decay that her Denver dentist still needs to look into. Oral health is also affected by many other things such as diet, bacteria, and even genetics (yes, some people are born with ‘weak’ teeth).

Another good trend that can be seen in society is that unlike before when “lectures” are a part of dental checkups, it’s no longer mandatory. Dentists nowadays have realized that lecturing the patient drives people away. If it does happen that your dentist insults your teeth, go find another one you’ll feel comfortable with.