Barbara, J Utermark DMD

She was my childhood dentist for a long time, and genuinely the reason why twenty years later I still require sedatives to get even a procedure as small as a filling. I don’t get anxiety for anything… anything! Except going to the dentist.
Tough deadline at work? Don’t worry, I got this. …Skydiving? Great! Let’s do it! …Dentist? Oh god please no. No no no. Hell, I’ll take the gynecologist any day over that.
Many tears were shed in Dr. Utermark’s chairs — like not using nearly enough novocaine sometimes, and opening that thing that props your mouth open too wide to the point that I felt as though my jaw were breaking for the duration of the procedure. I was otherwise a well-​behaved and mellow kid, so you’d think if I couldn’t stop crying the entire time that maybe, just maybe, something might be wrong.
Of course that was about two decades ago. Maybe she’s changed since then. I sure hope so if you let her put sharp objects in your kids’ mouths.
I am thankful for the gentle and understanding dentist I have now, and perhaps moreso for the nitrous oxide which I will probably require for the rest of my life.
Edit (2015): Had a random conversation with a friend about going to the dentist. At some point she mentions something like «I had such an awful dentist when I was little.» I say «Me too! I went to Dr. Utermark.» She says «NO WAY. ME TOO.» I say «Thank you for confirming that I wasn’t just making this sh*t up in my little kid head.»
If only my little kid self had been able to articulate what was happening to me better than «Mommy, the dentist hurts my mouth a lot. Please don’t take me there!» If your kid ever says this, do your best to look into it. Maybe it’s normal, since the dentist isn’t typically fun. But there’s discomfort… and then there’s trauma.