With my research on Hashimoto's over this past year, I discovered there may be a link between thyroid health and amalgam fillings. I checked in with my dentist and found I had amalgam fillings, one on each corner of my mouth. I remembered getting these fillings vividly, kicking and screaming the whole way. It definitely made a severe negative neural impression on my brain. I get reminded of my fear every 2-3 weeks when I get my nails done. I love how my nails look when I'm done, but sitting through the part where they drill the hard coating on my nails is torture.
"Traci, you're a hypnotist. Why don't you hypnotize yourself and fix this?"
Well, I have. I've done hours of self-hypnosis. I've done several sessions with other hypnotists. I've spent hours with hypnosis, reframing, tapping, meditation, etc. It's still there. It's better than before, but that fear is embedded in my psyche. I had not needed much more than my regular dental cleaning in the last twenty years. When I decided to remove my amalgam fillings to see if it might improve my health, I realized I needed to confront this fear as I would need to go to the dentist 3-4 times to remove the old fillings. The dentist offered nitrous oxide to help relax me. I don't believe I had ever been provided nitrous oxide before, so I agreed to try it.
I had two weeks to prepare for the first visit. I began with visualizing the entire dental experience from start to finish. I imagined listening to music with earbuds, how easy it would be, and how great I'd feel once I was done. I listened to a few hypnosis recordings from friends. I selected a hypnosis recording I would listen to the day of the dentist visit and purposely chose a recording with a hypnotist I didn't know personally. I didn't want to accidentally link that hypnotist to my dental experience. On the day of the first procedure, I went to the dentist feeling good about my decision and the procedure. I snapped a selfie with the nitrous oxide mask and posted it on Facebook.
The process went so well I left the office feeling amazing! The nitrous oxide helped control my nerves immensely. I was fighting the loss of control initially. Still, between the hypnosis recording and the ocean waves going from one side of my head to the other, I finally relaxed and let the dentist do her thing. I returned 3 weeks later, then again 2 weeks later to finish the job. I have felt increasingly better health-wise with each visit.
After the third and last photo of myself with the nitrous oxide mask, another hypnotist commented, "You could've used hypnosis for that."
I had to stop and think about what she said. She had no idea the considerable progress I had made, overcoming my earliest dental experiences of kicking and screaming bloody murder to looking forward to these last three dental visits. The trauma from my early dental visits was DEEP, and that fear was unconsciously reinforced by my trips to the nail salons over the years.
Hypnosis is a powerful tool. So is a dentist's drill. However, the dentist's drill can't fix my attitude, just like hypnosis can't drill out the old filling. Sometimes, you need a combination of tools to get the job right. In this case, I needed a dentist's drill, hypnosis, novocaine, and nitrous oxide to get me through this experience. I did what was best for me, and now I'm feeling 100% better...amalgam-free.
Lessons learned:
1) If you have amalgam fillings (lead, mercury), consider getting them out! You could be slowly poisoning your system and not realizing it.
2) Using hypnosis to mentally prepare yourself for any procedure or surgery will significantly improve the outcome.
3) Look for ways to make your procedure the best experience, whether with music, visualization, or a reward when it's all over.
Thank you, Dr. Kayanna Beckmann and the staff at Healthy Body Dental in Clearwater, FL.
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