Some of the more common causes for dental phobia include bad experiences that you may have had with dentists or dental procedures in your past. These can include pain caused by dental visits, or feeling put down or humiliated by the way you feel that a dentist treated you. Your feelings may also be brought on by stories other people have told you about bad dental visits in their experience. Even where pain may be your major concern, you wouldn't think you would avoid the dentist when he could provide relief from your toothache pain. It is pain that has been inflicted by a dentist who may have seemed cold that has scared many people. If you have a caring dentist, who inadvertently causes pain, it may not scare you, or cause future problems. Some people also experience dental phobia after they have been humiliated by an insensitive hygienist or dentist. Insensitive remarks by a past dentist and your strong humiliated feelings they provoke are involved in contributing to dental phobia. We are social animals, humans, and negative evaluation socially will cause most people to become upset. If you're sensitive to start with, insensitive remarks from a professional like a dentist can be especially harmful. Another cause of dental phobia, as mentioned, may be hearing about bad dental experiences of a friend or caregiver. Youth especially can pick up on this and it can lead to feelings of fear. Fear of needles may also be involved, as well as a fear of pain. And if you've had a particularly bad dental experience, your fear may be a side-effect of actual post-traumatic stress. Dental phobia can have various effects on your daily life. It can lead to depression and anxiety, even if you don't have dental appointments upcoming. You may be unable to show a real smile, for fear that people will see your damaged teeth. You might avoid meeting new people, or stay away from job promotions that might involve a great deal of public contact. You may lose self-esteem since you're not able to go to a dentist, and you're almost certainly intensely sensitive about your smile, or your lack of a real smile. Dental phobia sufferers sometimes avoid doctors as well, since they will see your teeth when they check your throat.
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