Facing My Greatest Fear

Facing one's fear takes a lot of courage. One of the fear that I've ever had was going to the dentist. I was afraid of the dentist, but I decided that being checked up and have my teeth cleaned was an important hygiene that I should do. I also thought it would be a part of good hygiene and would help me become a better person. What I didn't realize was that facing my fear to see the dentist would also make me a more confident person.

Just thinking about going to the dentist office made me feel nervous. I can still remember ten years ago about my past experience with my last check-up with the dentist. The dentist pulled out a part of my temporary tooth that was pushed to the side by my permanent teeth which was fully grown. I was holding the dentist's chair very tight while he was injecting my gums for numbing and when he was pulling my teeth out. After he was able to pull it out, when I began to stand, my hands and knees were shaking and all I see were black shapes on my way out then I fainted. From then on, my fear of going to the dentist was built up.

This continued on for several years. Because of my past experiences, getting ready to face my fear was easy for me. When I went to my dentist appointment this month, the dental hygienist showed me the different tools he was going to use. As I sat on a cushy seat, my fear was beginning to rise. The dental hygienist gently placed a cover on my chest and positioned the chair to a lying postion. I asked him if it's alright for him that I will use my ipod. He said yes. A flat screen T.V. hanged on the ceiling was showing a game show. With the T.V. on the ceiling, and my music on my ears, my pain and fear was diverted to it. Whenever I hear the buzzing sound of the silvery tool he was using, I set the volume of my music louder so I could not hear the buzzing sound.

Facing my fear was not hard as I thought it would be, and in the end my courage paid off. Not only did I face my fear, but I also learned some thing