Real Talk: I’m Almost Thirty Years Old and Terrified of Going to the Dentist

Dentists and Dentistry terrify me. It's a deep-seeded fear, and I don't know how I'll get past it. I can't be the only one who feels this way. Are you afraid of going to the dentist? Open wide and say, "Ahhh!"

The Official List of the Most Terrifying Things on Earth According to Meg

• Being buried alive
• Undeterminably deep water
• Fire
• Tornadoes
• Dentists
• Grasshoppers (What? Their eyes are way creepy, y'all)
• Gary Busey
• Bees/ Wasps/ Hornets/ Yellow Jackets
• Clowns
• Spiders
• Snakes
• Mickey Rourke's face post 2008

I can't even begin to explain to you how terrified I am of the dentist, but I will try. First, I am super creeped out to the max by the sensation of metal touching my teeth. I don't know what this is about, but GOOD GOD, if I accidentally bite a fork I have PTSD for a month. Needless to say, I don't handle the whole cleaning and scraping thing well, no matter how talented and kind the dental hygienist may be.

I also get the heebie jeebies from teeth--like, not teeth in people's mouth, but like TEETH teeth. Baby teeth after they've fallen out. I heard Ke$ha's new jewelry line features a bracelet made from human teeth. I literally puked in my mouth typing that sentence. I have also told the Tooth Fairy our house is a NO FLY ZONE, if you get what I mean.

And then there's the time I went to Dr. Sadist, DDS. I needed a filling and was inadequately numb, but dude just KEPT ON DRILLING. I was scared for life. I haven't been to a dentist since, and this was more than ten years ago. Gross. I know. But I brush and floss like a boss and rarely have a cavity.

Anyway, I went to Cumberland Dental in University Mall yesterday for a root canal. I was shaking in my boots the moment they called me back (okay; not boots--I was wearing flip-flops, but that's beside the point). I spoke with Endodontist Dr. Kristina Hopkins who helped to calm my fears. She was kind and amazing.

Also, her assistant turned that laughing gas up from LOL to ROFL, and then to LMAO when the real work got underway. I thought the procedure was going to be so painful, but it was a walk in the park. I remember asking the assistant to crank that gas up a little because I was getting nervous, and she said, "Oh, that's because the procedure is done." I was like, "Whuuuuut? No way."

Amazing. I'm a little sore today, but it's no big deal--at least I made a big step forward in overcoming my fear of the dentist.