Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2022 January 19

= January 19 =

Scary dentistry tools
Hello! I'm here to ask why dentist tools look so scary. I"m not trying to make a joke here. The tools I've seen my dentist use (especially when apply a numbing agent into my gums) look like those terrifying tools that an evil dentist uses in a movie. Even the syringe they use to apply numbing agent into the gums looks exactly like one from a horror movie, right down to the liquid dripping out of the end. Why do they look like they would be used to kill someone? They genuinely look terrifying, especially compared to what doctors use. ― Blaze WolfTalkBlaze Wolf#6545 14:25, 19 January 2022 (UTC)
 * What scares you is a highly personal thing, and I don't know that anyone can tell you why you're frightened of dentistry tools and not doctors tools. The best I can do is refer you to the Wikipedia article titled Dental fear, which is a common enough fear (that there are articles about the topic).  Otherwise, I'm not sure how to help you understand why you are afraid of such things.  Not knowing you, (which no one else here likely does) that is not something we can help you with.  -- Jayron 32 15:47, 19 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Ah ok. Dental tools honestly just seem like they would be more likely to be used my a murderer to me. They seem like they've been using the same tools since ancient times. But that's probably just my own personal far and it's not necessarily true. ― Blaze WolfTalkBlaze Wolf#6545 16:57, 19 January 2022 (UTC)
 * I'm 45. I see my dentist twice per year for cleanings, and have had occasional dental work (fillings, teeth pulled, etc.).  I have seen a considerable change in the equipment used in the dentists office in that time.  YMMV, maybe your dentist hasn't updated their training and equipment in decades, but I've seen considerable new equipment; the dental X-ray process (for example) has undergone considerable change over that time period.  -- Jayron 32 17:15, 19 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Well, dental tools have to apply a fair amount of force in a very restricted range of motion in a very personal and sensitive area of the body, most often while the patient is fully awake. That's a pretty disturbing concept. --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 23:36, 19 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Again, internal mental states are highly personal. I've never been particularly so disturbed.  YMMV.  -- Jayron 32 13:16, 20 January 2022 (UTC)
 * In contrast, I know someone who became a dentist, in part because as a child they were fascinated by the dentist's instruments, not frightened by them. --←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 18:12, 20 January 2022 (UTC)
 * You're usually awake at your dentist's, and generally anesthetized in the operating room, so you don't get the opportunity to be terrified/terrorized/traumatized by the sight of sharp, pointy medical thingees. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:47, 19 January 2022 (UTC)


 * Your response to such things is at least partially a learned behavior (and see also learned helplessness or maybe even post-traumatic stress disorder, though I don't like trivializing such things). That is, if you've had bad experiences at a dentist, the things associated with going there will be scarier. For example, many people find the clinical cleanliness of hospitals and dentist's offices off-putting, even though that's the least scary/painful part of it. As others have said, all this stuff is very personal. For example, the various picks and hooks don't phase me much because I've never found their use painful or unpleasant. What I hate is that vibrating tool they use for polishing to the point where I refuse to use an electric toothbrush, despite knowing that it has advantages. Matt Deres (talk) 20:07, 21 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Well, one of the rules (in Nevada, at least) for dental hygienists to start working again was that the rotary tools weren't to be used. Too hard to control the distribution of fluids, or something? Anyway, the solution is that the Wendy the tooth scraper now does her cleaning just like I do my dog's teeth, with a finger cloth. It's remarkably pleasant, actually, and seems to be effective. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 23:51, 22 January 2022 (UTC)