This information is made
possible by a grant from the N.H. Charitable Fund
Information is based on a study by Kate F. Hays and Sheila
Stanley
The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Women's Dental
Experiences, 1993.
Is it extremely difficult for you to call for a dental appointment for yourself? Do you put off making dental appointments even though you've got dental problems? Do you space out or become excessively fearful while in the dental chair? Were you sexually abused as a child or adolescent?
By the age of 18, 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually abused. Not only is the abuse traumatic at the time it occurs, it often has long-term disruptive consequences for the adult survivor. For example, medical procedures can be difficult to tolerate.
For many survivors, going to the dentist is traumatic. They avoid visiting the dentist, have trouble making or keeping appointments, are more likely to have stress-related dental problems, and have severe distress symptoms while at the dentist.
What is the connection between these symptoms of dental anxiety and childhood sexual abuse? There are a number of symbolic parallels:
If you have some of these concerns, please know there are a number of ways to help alleviate your fears. Also, dentists are becoming more sensitive to dental anxiety triggered by early trauma.
What You Can Do For Yourself...
The following are strategies survivors of childhood sexual abuse have found helpful in reducing dental anxiety:
Anything that increases your sense of control:
Mental techniques that you can practice ahead and while at the dentist:
Other things to do:
What Your Dentist Can Do To Help...
Your dentist and hygienist might consider some of the following to help ease your anxieties:
A few additional things that helped me get over a ten year long fear of dentists recently aren't on this list, so I thought I'd add them. Firstly - I stopped and realised just how many people who had never been abused in their lives are also terrified of going to the dentist. This helped me feel less of a freak, or a failure, and realise that I can choose to get past these fears and not let them stop me. Secondly, I made a list of all the ways in which going to the dentist was different from the abuse (starting with the fact that I pay this guy large amounts of money to do what he does!!). I read that list to myself before going there, took the list in with me and kept it on my lap throughout the procedure, so I could refer to it when I needed to. That "reality check" was a major factor in keeping me present and grounded. I've written more about those sort of lists on my Coping with the urge to self harm page.
A printable version (black on white) of this page can be found here.