You are so right with your tamale theory. When I was 7 or 8, my mother took me to work with her. She worked in a factory. I will never forget. They served food for some reason. I ate something called deviled eggs. When I came home (maybe it was the mayonaisse, or I ate a candy bar right after, (who remembers)???, I became deathly ill and for 40 or so years, you wouldn't get me to eat a deviled egg, no where no how!!! Only when I visited a friend's home for lunch and somebody bought a tray of deviled eggs, did I say to myself "now what is the chance of me getting ill again? So I took one. It was delicious and I didn't get sick. I do not eat them as a rule because of the calories but that's a completely different reason than my previous aversion to them.

Now phobias are a whole other ball of wax. I remember watching a Phil Donahue show on Phobias. He had about 7 people on the stage and they all had different phobias. I never laughed so hard in all my life. Not one of these people were dental phobics by the way. Some one had a snake phobia (not me, I've touched snakes, and they are NOT slimy like people think). One person was afraid of buttons, (that's right, buttons). A person came over with a hundreds of buttons hooked into some kind of pillow and the phobic person ran off the stage. But the funniest was the person afraid of balloons. She felt a balloon would take her breath from her body. When a person carrying a bunch of balloons, this person absolutely freaked out and ran away. I forget the other phobias, but the CURE, was this guy who hypnotized them. After the hynotherapy session, the person came out and, you guessed it, they brought a snake out and she touched it, the person could look at the buttons, etc. etc.

Now you might think, "why doesn't Melody try hypnosis"???? Well, I most certainly did. When I was a teenager, my mother brought me to a therapist who tried hypnosis. I had to use a technique by putting my hands together and rubbing them (or something like that, I can't remember exactly). I DO remember going to the dentist and my mother telling the dentist that we did the hypnosis thing and the dentist just looked at us like we had bats in our belfry. I remember the rubbing of my hands and it did nothing. I freaked and ran out of his office.

Want to hear the greatest dental story of all time? I was 22, and had to get my two front teeth capped. My mother found me a guy who puts you to sleep with general anaesthesia. That's right, GA, for teeth. So they put the IV in my arm.

So I go to sleep, I wake up with two temporary crowns, I threw up from all my nerves, I thought about it (remember, I still don't like the whole dental thing. But I was able to get through it. The dentist says to me, come back in two weeks and you'll get the permanent crowns. They have to be made. I said 'no problem". So what does Melody think?? I think, "okay, I go back, they put me to sleep and put on the permanent crowns." Yeah right!!!

So I go back, they are about to yank off my two front temporary teeth with a pair of pliers, I look at the dentist like he is out of his mind, and I go "are you out of your mind?, put me to sleep". He goes "Are YOU out of your mind??, "I'm just taking off two temps and putting on two permanent crowns, you don't need to go to sleep." Well, we are arguing back and forth and he goes "Listen, okay, I'll give you something called Sweet Air", (Nitrous Oxide, I believe it is called). I go "what the hell is that?" He said "you won't know what's going on". I go "really?" He goes, "trust me". So I said Okay!!!

Well, you should have been there for the show. I'm sitting there (me, the dental phobic, with all my adrenalin pumping like Arnold Schartenegger), and they put this mask over my face and they tell me to breath. I start breathing. My whole body goes completely numb and my whole head goes wide awake, I believe I was hyperventilating (or something close to that),I start screaming and they jump and take the mask off and the dentist sighs and yells out to his partner "Call the anaesthesiologist, we have to put her out".

Oh yes, I have had my experiences in a dental chair, believe me!!!!

I still fight this phobia every day of my life, as well as dealing with a son with Aspergers and taking care of Alan and also taking care of myself.

I do it because I have to do it. It's the hardest thing in my life.

I wouldn't wish a dental phobia (or any kind of medical phobia) on anybody. The odd thing is when I go to the doctor and they come at me with an injection thinking I'm going to be afraid and they go, "now, I won't hurt you". and I go "are you for real, go ahead and shoot me".

Want to know how really serious a dental phobia is??? Imagine me, going in for my second gall-bladder operation 7 years ago. I was bleeding internally and they had to go back inside and do a real operation (not the laparoscopy they had initally done). They wheeled me on the gurney right next to the operating room doors. What is the first thing that pops into my mind??? I say out loud to no one in particular. Well, Melody, at least they are not going into your mouth".

Yeah, it's real!!!! Believe me.

Melody