Teeth *
Pain is something that stops everyone from being efficient, friendly and productive. This is one of my own EFT tales. I wrote it down in the hopes that it might help you and serve as template if you have to deal with dental pain and the loss of a tooth.
In spring, I had my usual checkup at the dentist. However, this time he said something unexpected and dreadful: “Your wisdom tooth has a cavity in a place we cannot treat. It has to come out. When do you want to do it, right now while it’s spring, or in fall?”
I chose the fall. I needed the time to get used to the idea of losing a tooth for the first time after nearly four decades. And I hated the thought! So I tapped.
“Even though I hate even the thought of losing my wisdom tooth, I’m okay the way I am and allow myself to accept the inevitable.”
Fall came along, and I had the tooth extracted a few weeks ago. The dentist had checked the X-ray pictures and expected no complications. Cold comfort, that. So as I lay in that dreaded chair, I tapped almost nonstop. I was upset, nervous and afraid. I told the assistant that tapping was my way of dealing with stress, and she accepted that easily.
“Even though I’m utterly scared of this, of losing my tooth, of the pain and everything, I choose to be calm and confident and allow myself to be surprised by how easy it all goes.”
Here in Germany, we use anesthesia shots in dentistry, and those take a while to take effect. I had plenty of time to keep tapping … and it helped. I was much calmer when the dentist came back to start working on the tooth. He told me to that it shouldn’t hurt and I was to tell him immediately when I felt pain. Sure enough, I did, and he used another numbing shot, which worked incredibly fast and numbed almost half of my face.
While he strained to get out the tooth, I kept tapping mentally and rubbed the finger points continuously. And amazingly enough, I managed to relax my whole body time and again, during the actual extraction.
“Even though I’m still scared of this whole procedure, I’m okay and choose calm and the firm knowledge that all this will go well.”
A few minutes later, the tooth had been extracted. I was allowed to take it home, even. It now sits on my desk. I still haven’t decided what to do with it. Yet the cavity is clearly visible on it, and there is no doubt it could have caused serious trouble.
After the extraction, I felt rather weak and muddled. After a while, I went and walked to the nearest bus stop and with luck, caught a bus immediately and got home fine.
The dentist had plugged the hole with something but I was allowed to eat whatever I wanted after the numbing had gone away. In the evening, I still felt some of it whenever I blinked my left eye, but the mouth was already clear. I had some creme of wheat. Then I took a paracetamol and went to bed. And I tapped for healing:
“Even though I have this hole in my jaw and even though my dentist said the tooth had been quite huge, I’m okay and I ask my body to heal fast and easily.”
I was on sick leave the next day, which was very good. Still feeling muddled and weak. I also removed that plug and gingerly explored the hole with my tongue. It felt as big as a crater on the moon!
“Even though I have this immense crater in my jaw, it feels the size of the moon, I’m still okay the way I am and choose to heal quickly and easily.”
I felt better the next days, but there still was a slight, throbbing pain where my tooth had been. My jaw and the other teeth ached. Finally, comfortably in bed, I chose a different approach with EFT:
“Even though I, Frauke’s Jaw, am angry at that dentist for simply tearing out one of my teeth, I’m okay the way I am and doing a good job.”
“Even though we, Frauke’s Jaw and Teeth, are sad at the loss of our friend, that’s so sad, he was a good friend, and now he’s gone, we’re still okay the way we are and doing a good job.”
When I woke up in the next morning, the pain was gone. Now, weeks later, there is still a small hole in my jaw which is filling up nicely and not causing any trouble.
I firmly believe it was important to honor my jaw and remaining teeth and acknowledge their “feelings”. I see it again and again in my EFT work. Injured body parts need to be honored and heard. Once their “feelings” have been worked on with EFT, healing comes faster and more easily – even if the injury is years old.
This is an alternative way to deal with pain and injuries. If you have similar problems, take this tale as template, change the phrases and try it out. You’ll find an EFT guide on the left hand side of the blog.
* Picture from Grey’s Anatomy of the Human Body, 1918,
Original on Wikimedia Commons