From Panic to Peace: How I Finally Faced My Fear of the Dentist

Years had passed since my last dentist visit. Not that I didn’t care about my teeth, but anxiety always got the better of me. The sounds of metal clinking and that grinding machine noise, which irritates and sometimes even the uplifting of chairs, the smells, the feeling of being stuck in that chair with no control. Even thinking about it made my stomach knot.

Dental phobia is more than just being a bit nervous.

For some, it’s something deeply rooted; a bad experience as a child, a fear of pain, or just the awful discomfort of not being able to get away once the treatment has begun. Dental anxiety doesn’t always show up as panic. Sometimes it looks like postponing appointments. Sometimes it looks like telling yourself, “I’ll go next month.” And then next month never comes.

That was me.

I wasn’t afraid of the dentist as a person. I was afraid of the experience, the loss of control, the anticipation of pain, the memories of past visits that didn’t go well. Over time, that fear caused real problems. Missed cleanings turned into sensitivity. Sensitivity turned into discomfort. And discomfort made the anxiety even worse.

Late one night, I was scrolling through my social media and came across an article about dental procedures I wasn’t aware of, ‘Sedation Dentistry For Anxious Patients’.

I assumed dental sedation meant being completely unconscious, which honestly sounded just as scary. But the more I read, the more I realized how misunderstood dental sedation actually is. 

It’s not about losing control.
It’s about easing the nervous system.

Dental sedation is often used for people who feel overwhelmed in the chair, people with anxiety, sensitive gag reflexes, or past negative experiences. It allows the body to relax while the mind stays calm enough to get through treatment. Later, I started searching and reading more about it, and I found out that there is a specialized dentist near my house, who is specialised in dental sedation; McCallum Dental. 

For the first time, going to the dentist felt possible; not easy, but possible. When the day of my dental appointment arrived, I went to the clinic. I did not enter the dental office directly. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths as I was sitting in my car with the engine off. I recall seeing someone else go in before me, and I wondered how they made it look so easy. To them, it probably was. To me, being there required some effort.

When the sedation began, I kept waiting for something intense to happen.

It didn’t.

Instead, it felt like my body finally exhaled. The tension in my shoulders softened. My breathing slowed without me trying. The constant stream of anxious thoughts in my head faded into the background. I was aware of what was happening around me, but the fear wasn’t running the show anymore. Time passed in a strange way. I remember thinking, This isn’t so bad. And then, almost immediately, I was told we were finished.

I still don’t love dental appointments. I probably never will. But I no longer fear them. This visit showed me that anxiety doesn’t have to be something you push through alone. Sometimes, it just needs space, patience, and the right support. A calm environment and a dentist who actually listens can completely change how something feels.

I walked out of that office lighter than I walked in, not because the appointment was over, but because fear finally wasn’t in charge. For the first time in a long while, the thought of another visit didn’t bring the same weight with it.