Fear of the dentist is a common enough fear. Who wants to experience a root canal? If fear is keeping people from going to the dentist, then perhaps a website is needed. Thing is, I don't think Dental Fear Central does a very good job of it.
Perhaps its the cute smileys 
.
Perhaps its the comics.
Mostly, I think it's mostly because their "advice" would just exacerbate my fear of the dentist if I had one.
Take, for instance, this advice for abuse survivors:
Sexual Abuse in Childhood and Dental Fears
The following conditions may trigger a repetition of earlier trauma: being alone with a person more powerful than oneself, being placed in a horizontal position, having someone nearby and touching you, having objects placed in one's mouth, being unable to talk or swallow, and experiencing or anticipating pain.
Well, now that you jogged my memory, I think I'll be heading over to the dentist. Keep in mind that I'm not making light of the situation, I just think the situation requires a little more tact. How about expressing more empathy?
While there definitely is place for humour in therapy, I don't think this kind of humour helps. I think it would make me more afraid of the dentist.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Dental Phobias
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1 comments:
Hi,
as the webmaster of the mentioned website, I naturally beg to differ! The only times we've received this type of criticism has been from people who do not suffer with dental phobia. I don't feel that the "tactless" comments would trigger or enhance existing fearful thoughts - many people with a true dental phobia think scary thoughts for much of the day and I don't feel that putting them into words is going to do any additional damage.
Just my (biased :-P) view of course.
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