Dental Procedure

Recently I heard a radio spot that began, “When you hear the words dental procedure how do you feel?” My immediate response to the words dental procedure was “UG.” I started thinking about how much additional probing it would take me as a qualitative researcher to find out exactly what “UG” means. “Feel” is such an abstract word that it’s often almost impossible to explain exactly how or why we feel the way we do.

I tried an experiment. I closed my eyes and thought about the last time I was at the dentist’s office, and began exploring my sensory memories of that experience – what I saw, heard, smelled, tasted, and the sense of touch during that dental visit. My strongest recollection was the sense of touch – lying back uncomfortably in the dentist’s chair, and feeling the high speed spray of water from the dental instrument all over my face, shooting into my mouth, going up my nose, making it somewhat hard for me to catch my breath and actually gagging me.

Based on that quick exploration of a real event (the dental visit) rather than the abstract word “feel,” I now vividly understand “UG.” It’s a sense of being totally out of control regarding what is happening to me, as well the sense that I am actually at some risk of physical danger. If a dentist could address those issues for me I might be more regular in my dental visits.