“Until last year I had not visited a dentist for probably twenty years. In that time I did not experience a year entirely without dental pain but tried to convince myself that I was managing the pain because the alternative – visiting the dentist – seemed so much worse.
As a child, I had a rather austere dentist who at one point removed four healthy teeth ‘to make room in your jaw’, hoping to correct the overcrowding of my front teeth. Orthodontics also failed to sort the problem. Later, while having my wisdom teeth removed, the surgeon dislodged a healthy molar during the extraction process, puncturing my sinus. The operation to repair this hole proved extremely painful, since I find that it takes more than usual amounts of anaesthetic to make me numb.
All these experiences, culminating in unnecessarily painful surgery, built up in my mind to the point where I no longer trusted any dentist. As far as I was concerned, a bit of toothache now and again was never going to be as bad as visiting ‘one of those psychos’.
But my teeth inevitably declined and life was punctuated by episodes of excruciating pain. On holiday in 2005, I was woken by pain so intense it was all I could do not to scream and keep on screaming. So, what did I do about it? Pretty much everything – short of seeing a dentist.
Then a meeting with a friend in 2006 led to the revelation that, despite now living in Wiltshire, he continued to visit his dentist – Dr Harrison – in Cambridge. Explaining that he had been an extremely nervous patient, and knowing my woes, he recommended I visit her for an assessment of the state of my teeth. This personal referral was my salvation. My friend refers to the experience as ‘life-changing’, and this is entirely accurate.
They say that first impressions last, and Dr Harrison makes a very good first impression. You get a strong sense that she and her colleagues want you to understand, if not always the technical details of what the treatment entails, then definitely the why of it. And as I have found, if you ask detailed questions, you get detailed answers. On many occasions I have left a session with a distinct feeling of enlightenment – there are no secrets about the treatment, only openness and clarity.
I am still a nervous patient, but I gladly put myself in the hands of Dr Harrison and her colleagues at Granta Dental because of the confidence that they inspire. At all times I am aware that I am in control, and I am making the choice to continue. I still have some way to go with my treatment and I am actually looking forward to it. For more than a year now I have been entirely free of the pain that once ruled my life, and guess what? I don’t miss it one bit.”