PDA and dental care

As a kid and teenager, I was prompted to brush my teeth regularly by my parents, who’d get very involved in the process. Unfortunately, when I reached 17/18 they abruptly stopped this, saying I was old enough now to manage this for myself.

My PDA t0ok this as an opportunity to be avoidant. I would have benefitted from a much more gradated approach to being in charge of my own teethcare. It didn’t help that my parents had set the expectation that adults use adult toothpaste, which is a sensory hell for me, far too strong a flavour. Instead of being able to continue on with the habit, it turns out it was in no way a habit for me to brush my teeth, and I neglected to do so for about ten years. This was not helped by my worsening mental health, and ADHD, which both likely also contributed to this self-neglect for so long.

Now, unfortunately, thanks to this, my gums are in a very bad way. I need to see a dentist soon because it’s gotten so bad. I’ve had quite a few bad experiences with outpatient procedures, including dental, because I don’t seem to respond well to local anaesthetic, in that it doesn’t cause me to go particularly numb – I can usually feel the entirety of the procedure, including all the pain.

As a result, booking to see a dentist was very terrifying for me. I had a panic attack, cried and ended up very depersonalised (a form of dissociation in which your own person/body does not feel real to you). Thankfully I did manage to not be avoidant – more in terms of trauma avoidance here – and did book the dentist appointment. That was mainly because staff here at my hospital will be able to attend with me, otherwise I probably would have avoided seeing a dentist.