After a really bad experience with a dentist in my teens, I developed a morbid fear of them and never went again. If I'd had access to a gun I would have happily shot myself due to the excruciating pain of impacted wisdom teeth 20 years later.

Well with age has come a little bit of wisdom, and a lot of tooth ache!

I overcame my fear by getting to know a dentist socially, by the time I found the courage to make an appointment, he was no longer a total stranger, ready to inflict untold pain.....

There have also been HUGE advances in technology and drugs in the last 20 years!!! Today I experienced NO PAIN AT ALL while having a broken tooth extracted. The gum is numbed with a gel pad and then a nerve blocking agent is injected with a micro fine needle. The needle is introduced below your field of vision, not paraded around like the old days.

So for all those people putting off a visit to the dentist, you will be pleasantly surprised by the treatment, but shocked by the bill !!!  Extraction $180, HBF paid $41  ;-(