overcoming your dentist appointment fears

How Overcoming Your Dentist Appointment Fears Can Be Empowering

Colkmire DentistryUncategorized

Many people struggle with fear of going to the dentist, and in our last blog post, we looked at some of the reasons why people might be afraid of the dentist. While these fears are perfectly understandable due to various circumstances, have you ever thought of the way that these fears are holding you back from a breakthrough in other areas of your life? In this article from our cosmetic dentistry office in Sarasota, we’d like to explore some of the ways that overcoming your fear of the dentist can be empowering to your life.

Fear of the Dentist = Cosmetic Dentistry Issues Go Unfixed = Your Confidence is Impaired

If there’s one thing we’ve seen over and over with patients that we’d love to change for everyone, it’s this:

  • A patient has significant visible cosmetic dentistry issues.
  • The patient cannot help notice people staring at their teeth.
  • Therefore, they go to great lengths to prevent people from seeing their teeth.
  • This keeps them from smiling and they learn to keep their lips over their teeth.
  • They unconsciously project less self-confidence towards others because they’re focusing on making sure that no one sees their teeth.
  • People respond to this lack of self-confidence in a way that further damages the self-confidence of the patient, resulting in a vicious cycle.
  • The patient ends up with extra struggles in many social situations, from job interviews to interpersonal relationships, and they don’t know how to turn it around.
  • When they finally do get their teeth fixed, they are able to smile again, improving their self-confidence and turning the cycle in an upward spiral rather than a downward one.

It’s amazing how a little thing like getting your teeth fixed can have a ripple effect on all the rest of your life, but it’s true. For this cause alone, it’s worth it to look into cosmetic dentistry.

Overcoming Fear of the Dentist = Overcoming Other Fears = Being More Empowered in General

Fear can be a debilitating thing, but it doesn’t have to stop you from the life you want to live. Often we’ve seen how a person who gathers the moxie and resolve to overcome just one fear ends up with such a rush of exhilaration from the victory that they go on to smash other fears and obstacles that had previously held them back.

There are two ways to approach this. If going to the dentist is one of your greatest fears, and you absolutely can’t bring yourself to face it, then why not work on conquering a few lesser fears in the quest for that exhilarating feeling of empowerment? Then you’ll be more charged up to take on the greatest fears you have.

Alternatively, some people have had success going about it the other way around. You can approach your greatest fear first, and once you’ve conquered that one, tackling all the other lesser fears will be a piece of cake.

Demolishing fear is a good thing. Fear holds us back from being the people we were meant to be. Facing the fear of going to the dentist might feel like a really small and insignificant thing, but it can actually be symbolic of the greatest breakthrough that you’ve ever made in your life.


Here at Joshua Colkmire Dentistry, we cheer on the effort to smash fears that have held you back. If you’re at the dentist despite your fear, please tell us. We’d love to celebrate with you and be extra careful to not traumatize you again. Contact us today for your appointment.