I'm scared of the dentist. And I need treatment.

Fear is not a weakness, and nobody here is keeping score

A lot of people are afraid of the dentist, adults as much as children. For one it is the needle, for another the sound, for another an old experience they never got over. And some cannot say what it is; they only know they keep putting it off.

If you have put it off for years, nobody here will ask why you did not come sooner. Nobody will tell you what might have happened if you had. You are here now, and that is where we start.

And if you are new to Amman, or just new to this clinic, there is a second layer to the fear. You do not know the place, the people, or how things are done here. That is one more reason to come and talk first, before anything else.

And why no promise? Because a promise like that breaks in the first minute, and you would be the first to know.

In Dr. Adnan's own words: “Every patient deserves to feel safe, understood, and confident in their smile.”

Each fear, what actually happens, and what is in your hands

Fear grows when you do not know what is coming. So here each fear is broken into two parts: what actually happens in the room, and what is in your hands, not in anyone else's.

Fear of the needle

The needle is not the first thing that happens. Before it there is talking, an examination if you agree to one, and an explanation. When we reach the local anaesthetic, you know before it happens, not after. The prick itself is brief and you do feel it, and then the area goes numb.

• Do not watch it: close your eyes or look at the ceiling, and someone tells you “now”.
• Ask for a pause and one breath before it, and you get it.
• You decide: hear every step in detail, or hear nothing at all. Both are allowed.
• Bring someone with you to sit beside you. A friend, a colleague, your partner.

Fear of the sound

The sound of the instrument is just a sound, but the brain ties it to pain from old experiences. Here you know before it starts, roughly how long it will run, and it stops at your signal.

• Bring your headphones and listen to whatever settles you, or ask us to keep talking to you the whole time.
• Ask for a break every so often. The work can be split.
• Ask first: “How long will this sound last?” The answer shortens the fear.

Fear of choking or gagging

The feeling that you cannot breathe, or that you are about to gag, is a familiar one, especially with work on the back teeth or during x-rays. The chair is not laid flat if that makes it worse, suction is done as you go, and there are pauses to swallow.

• Say it before you come, on the phone: “I have a strong gag reflex.” The steps are arranged around it.
• Breathe slowly through your nose. Your mouth is busy; your nose is not.
• Ask for the chair to be raised a little, or for a pause to rinse.
• And if the gag reflex is really strong, there is an option decided at the examination, below under The options that help.

Fear of being judged, or embarrassed by the state of your teeth

Nobody here asks “why did you leave it so long?”. The doctor sees teeth in every condition. His job is to understand what happened, not to judge you for it. What matters to him is what happens from here. Years without a dentist. Work done in another country you are not sure about. A mouth you would rather not show anyone. All of it is seen here, and none of it is judged.

• Say it as soon as you sit down: “I have not been to a dentist in years.” It is an ordinary sentence here.
• Ask that the state of your teeth is not discussed in front of anyone but you.
• Come alone, or with someone you trust, whichever puts you at ease.

An old bad experience

A bad experience makes the body tense before anything has happened. Here you tell it at the first visit: what happened, and what the hardest part was. Then the way is built around your story, not around “everyone”.

• Name exactly what you do not want repeated. One sentence is enough.
• Ask for a visit just to talk, with no treatment at all, and leave the examination for the next visit if you prefer.
• Start with the smallest step: an examination only, or a cleaning only, and decide after that.

A child who is afraid

A child who is afraid has a full section below: what happens at a getting-to-know-you visit, what your part is, and why time matters more than anything else.

The first visit, step by step

The first visit has one aim: you get to know the place, and it gets to know you. Not treatment, and not hurry. And you can stop at any step of it.

1. 1

   The phone callSay you are nervous in your first sentence. Not so we can write it down, but so reception gives you more time and tells you what will happen. And if writing is easier than talking, send it on WhatsApp or by email.

2. 2

   ArrivingYou arrive, you sit down, and nobody hurries you. If you want to wait a while before going into the room, that is fine. If you want someone in there with you, say so from the start, and we will see whether they can come in with you.

3. 3

   Talking before the chairTalking comes first, not the chair. You say exactly what frightens you, what happened before, and what you want to happen today. And you agree on the signal, the one that stops him.

4. 4

   The examination, only if you agreeIf you agree, the dentist examines you: looking, a mirror, and an x-ray if it is needed. If you say “today I just want to talk”, your visit is complete right there, and it is a full visit, not half of one.

5. 5

   The decision is yoursYou hear exactly what you have, what the options are, and what changes if you would rather wait. Then you go home and think it over if you want to. No decision on the spot, unless something is urgent, and then you hear why.

The options that help

No option takes the fear away entirely, and nobody here will tell you it does. There are options that make the step smaller, and which one suits you is decided at the examination, not over the phone.

Local anaesthetic

Treatment that could hurt is done under local anaesthetic: a small injection where the work is, and the area goes numb. You still feel pressure and movement, and that is normal. If you feel pain in the middle of the work, you give the signal, it stops, and the anaesthetic is topped up if needed.

Laughing gas

A small mask over your nose. You breathe through it and you stay awake: you hear, you talk, you answer. The feeling is calm, not sleep. The level is adjusted during the appointment to what you need, and when the work is done you breathe oxygen and the effect clears quickly. It is available for children and adults, and it also helps people whose gag reflex is strong enough to get in the way of the work.

But it is an option the doctor decides at the examination, based on your case and your health, not something you book over the phone. If you are thinking about it, say so at the first visit.

And time

There is a third option with no medical name: time. A longer appointment than usual, a visit to talk before a visit to treat, and a plan divided into small stages, each one finished before you go home. A lot of fear gets smaller when the step gets smaller.

A child who is afraid

This is the field of Dr. Adnan's postgraduate degree: a clinical master's in paediatric dentistry. A child who cannot cooperate needs more time, not more pressure.

A getting-to-know-you visit, with no treatment

Sometimes the first visit has no treatment in it at all. The child sees the place, sits in the chair, holds the mirror, and goes home. Treatment comes at a second visit, once the place is somewhere they already know.

Tell, show, then do

Every instrument is explained to the child in words for their age, shown on their hand or on a toy before it touches a tooth, and only then used. The child knows what is coming, and it is the surprise that frightens, not the instrument.

And your part

A child reads your fear before they read the room. If you are nervous, tell reception away from the child, not in front of them. You can be beside them in the room. Sometimes the doctor will ask you to step out for a moment, if he sees that it helps the child cooperate, and he tells you why beforehand. If your child is more at ease in one language than another, say so when you book.

Children with special needs

A service the clinic provides, not an exception: a plan built around each patient, child or adult, preventive, restorative and for emergencies. Tell us what puts them at ease and what they need when you first call, so the appointment is arranged around it and given its time.

The Children's dentistry page carries on from here. And if there is pain right now: Is your child crying with toothache?.

People who have been through it before you

Not everyone who was afraid talks about it afterwards. But the clinic's reviews on Maps are open to everyone, and you can read them yourself before you come: Alakhras Clinic on Maps. Any patient's words published here are published as written, and only with their written consent.

Questions people ask