Until recently I hadn’t received any proper dental care for over 23 years. The only exception to this was getting a filling ten years ago, however the experience I had on that visit was bad and only amplified my dental phobia.

My dental phobia started when I was young and followed me into adult life. Some of the issues I had with the dentist were the feeling of being trapped in the dentist chair without having any control over what was happening to me. I hated having any sort of metal instrument in my mouth, hated the noise and smell of getting my teeth drilled but worse of all I found getting fillings to be very painful.

When I was young I had a filling in put my front teeth, the filling discoloured two years after being done. For the last twenty- two years I have very rarely smiled through embarrassment. This affected my confidence as a teenager and adult.

I went back to the dentist ten years ago as I was in need of urgent treatment. I only attended the one session as I found the treatment too painful. During the session I received inadequate anaesthesia and an unsympathetic dentist ignoring my plea for more pain relief. I came away from the session mentally scarred and vowed never to go back to a dentist. My perception of the dental industry was of a painful barbaric profession.

As an adult I have always tried to ensure that my oral hygiene was as good as possible as I wanted to avoid a trip to the dentist at all cost. I didn’t have any major problems with my teeth until eight years ago when I had a tooth filling fall out. Because I didn’t get the tooth refilled it eventually got infected. For the last few years I was getting bouts of toothache every couple of months. I was treating the toothache with herbal remedies and Ibuprofen.

Gradually the toothache got worse and was re-occurring every couple of weeks. Some of the toothache infections turned into abscesses that made my face swell up so bad that I was embarrassed to leave my house.

For the last few years my teeth have been a constant worry and led to myself having bouts of depression. I knew that eventually I would have to get some treatment, however my phobia was so bad that even the thought of sitting in a dentist chair made me feel very anxious and nauseous. I couldn’t even look through lists of dentists in yellow pages without feeling unwell.

I eventually came across Mike’s website “Whatfear.com”, whilst browsing through web pages on dental phobia.

I read through a lot of the testimonials on the site and was glad to know that there were a lot of other people out there that had suffered from this phobia, who had then went on to successfully work through their phobias with Mike. All of the testimonials were saying the same thing. “Mike was patient, understanding, gentle at giving treatment but most importantly that the treatment was pain free”. I decided to take Mike’s number at the “Berkeley clinic” and after a few weeks managed to pluck up the courage to phone and arrange a consultation.

The day of the consultation arrived and I was very nervous, in fact I had been a nervous wreck for a couple of days. When I turned up at the clinic Mike came out and met me and took me through into the consultation room. My first impression was it wasn’t as scary as I had imagined and what also made it easier was the fact that I didn’t even need to sit on the dreaded chair. Mike took time to listen to all of my issues before ensuring me that the profession had changed from how it was when I was younger. Mikes reassurances and patience made me feel so at ease that I felt able to sit in the chair, have him look around my mouth and even do an Xray all within the first visit. At the end of the session I was relieved that I didn’t need as much work done as I had imagined.

My first treatment session was scheduled and Mike would treat me under sedation during a two-hour session. Mike planned to get through as much work as possible during this session. A week before the appointment I started getting very nervous and anxious. My mind was in overdrive visualising sitting in the dentist chair having treatment and this gave me heart palpitations.

When the day eventually arrived I made my way into the surgery. On entering the treatment room Mike instantly made me feel relaxed and at ease and also explained again exactly what would be happening during the procedure. I was also made aware that I was in control of the treatment and could stop for a break at any time or to request more anaesthetic. This made me feel very empowered.

The session went well even though there were complications taking my two teeth out, which led to the fillings having to get rescheduled for other sessions. When Mike said that Modern dentistry is pain free he wasn’t kidding. I never felt a thing; I didn’t even notice him putting in the Intravenous sedation. The injections in my mouth were also carried out very slowly and gently and were completely pain free. During the treatment the sedation worked very well, even though I was completely conscious, I was totally relaxed, at ease and happy for Mike to give me treatment. At the end of the first session I was a little disappointed that due to complication I hadn’t got through as much treatment as I planned, however I was amazed at how easy and pain free the treatment had been and I couldn’t believe that I had went through so many years of worry and depression over what turned out to be something so easy.

The remainder of my treatment was for tooth fillings and some cosmetic work. Because I found the first treatment so easy I decided to do the rest of the treatment under local anaesthetic and without sedation. My treatment was broken down into manageable appointments and I’m now at the end of my treatment. Every single appointment has been a positive experience, I have never had any painful experiences, Before Mike   carries out any procedure he will explain exactly what the procedure will entail.

 As a patient I have felt totally empowered whilst in the dentist chair. I do still get a little nervous before appointments, however the nerves and anxiety are nothing like as bad as what they were before treatment. Mike is amazed that I can now turn up and jump straight in the chair and I feel completely at ease.

The work that Mike does changes peoples lives in a very positive way. He has given me “a dental phobic for almost all of my life”, a new perception of the dental profession. Mike has successfully treated me and brought me back into using this profession. I think he could successfully treat any phobic.

 I can’t believe that with Mikes help and understanding and high quality of care that I have spent the last three months getting through dental treatment. It has taken me a long time to get here but thanks to Mike I have went through a life changing experience and now have the confidence to smile again. This has made a huge difference to my life. Thanks Very Much Mike.