Fear of the Dentist...Rational Or Irrational?

I am afraid of the dentist. My children's dentist, that is. It's just feels so judgy, like, "please examine my child's mouth and tell me if I have been a good mother or not." It's as if my ability to tell them (repeatedly, of course) to brush their teeth or brush it for them translates to my adequacy as a mother. I always feel a sense of anxiety on appointment day and have even rescheduled appointments because I'm not in the mood to feel judged!

Every time the dentist or hygenist comes out of the exam room, I suck up my breath with anticipation of what they're going to say. The best phrase is, "they're good for six months." Happy Dance-time! But when you hear the dreaded, "K/C/or K is going to need to come back," gah!!! Dammit. And then I'll take a brief glance around the room to see if the other parents in the room are judging me too. For some reason, I don't have this same fear for the pediatrician. I usually look forward to those visits and have a handful of questions. Somehow evaluating my care for tiny teeth creates more nervousness for me than evaluating my care for an entire small human.

It's highly possible I'm putting all of this pressure on myself, because I tend to care too much about what other people think. I wish I could adopt my husband's "f*ck 'em" attitude, but I'm uber-sensitive to judgement, especially when it comes to my kids. I guess I'll just have to suck it up because there's no avoiding the dentist. Well, I suppose there is, but then that would be an entirely different level of judgement if they had stank breath and rotten teeth.

We had a dentist appointment last night, and I was so elated to hear that all three are good for another six months! It was some sort of mom victory. Hey, take them wherever you can, right? For now, I can put aside my dental anxiety for another six months.