A memorable visit to the dentist

I have used EFT both personally and professionally for about 4 years now and – as most people – witnessed many small and greater miracles. One of the smaller ones still makes me smile whenever I think of it. It happened several years ago and it was one of the first times I remembered to tap in the middle of a stressful event.

I went to my dentist because a small piece had broken off of one of my molars. The dentist had seen it already and we had made an appointment to have the damage repaired, but at that occasion he had warned me that he had to get awfully close to the nerve and might end up having to kill the nerve.

He also said the procedure was tedious in itself, and even more so because the location in my mouth was difficult to access. Still, I was not particularly worried; although a visit to the dentist is not my favourite pastime, it does not scare me either.

When the day came, he anesthetized the right side of my mouth, and then set out to start the procedure. But while his demeanor normally is very friendly and he always tries to make me comfortable and at ease, this time was different. He seemed tense and with a worried look on his face he informed me again that he would try to save the nerve but might end up having to kill it anyway. He also repeated, more to himself than to me, that it would be a very difficult procedure, because of the place in my mouth and the specifics of my mouth and teeth.

Then he warned me that it was EXTREMELY important for me to sit ABSOLUTELY still and to NOT move my tongue. By then he had me nervous too, so I decided to do EFT (in my mind) to calm myself. I did not rate my nervousness, but I knew from earlier experience that it is almost impossible for me to sit still when told to: my body immediately starts to itch in different places, I get the urge to stretch, and to move exactly those parts that I was told to keep still (my tongue for example).

So I closed my eyes and did a few rounds on being nervous but choosing to be able to sit ABSOLUTELY still and NOT move my tongue and encouraging my body to do everything within its power to contribute to a positive outcome of the treatment.

After a few rounds I was very calm. Even my hands were perfectly relaxed  in my lap (normally when in the dentist-chair I clamp them together in an effort to control my movements), and I was confident that I could lay absolutely still as long as necessary. Awesome!

It was then that I noticed the growing tension in the dentist. His frown had deepened and he was now verbalizing how difficult it was what he was doing, talking about what could go wrong, and how it was virtually impossible for him to do it right as the spot in my mouth was almost inaccessible. He even snapped at his assistant! I saw that as a bad sign, as I only knew  him as friendly, optimistic and humorous. So I decided that he could use some relaxation and confidence too (for his AND my sake), and I started to do surrogate EFT in my mind:

Even though you are tense and second guessing yourself and doubting a positive outcome, you can do it, you know you can, and you are doing a great job right now!

He kept talking, but I had not even completed the first round when his tone changed: he now started telling me that, actually, everything was going quite well and above expectation! I was happy to hear this of course, but to be on the safe side, I just went on doing what I did. A little later he mentioned that he now had arrived at the most difficult part of the procedure, but by now he sounded lighthearted and added that, as everything up to this moment went well beyond expectation, this probably would go well too…

And shortly thereafter he even started complimenting me on how well I did!

After finishing, successfully of course,  he told me that the most tricky part of the procedure had been the placing of a little ring, something that often needed more than one try and could cause problems. This time though, to his pleasant surprise, it had clicked into place at once! He mentioned that it helped that my gums did not bleed, which he ascribed to me taking good care of my teeth – but I do specifically remember earlier occasions when they bled quite a bit, and I had changed nothing in my cleaning habits…

He then told me that he had  done this specific procedure once before in an equally difficult location as with me, and that on that occasion it had gone terribly wrong, and that he had felt horrible because of that! So there was a specific reason for his anxiousness!

Before I left he warned me to expect quite a bit of pain after the anesthesia wore off, as he had been operating very very close to the nerve, so I tapped for that too a few times while still anesthetized – and although I did experience some discomfort, it was minor.

So thanks to Gary Craig for EFT, it has made and continues to make a huge change in my life, in more ways than I could ever expect!

Zjan Matti, Eft-practitioner and sound healer
www.zjan.nl (functional from january 2010)
zjan.matti@xmsnet.nl