Urgent... please refer me to a good, gentle dentist in the Mountaintop/Wilkes-Barre area (Kingston: college)

[aNEPAgirl]

Hi! I'm a typical 35 y.o. professional woman from Mountaintop except for my dirty little secret... I haven't been to the dentist in 5+ years. Let me explain...

When I was in college, I had some minor dental work done by a dentist who had a terrible, uncaring, harsh manner. He caused me quite a bit of pain, and his attitude was that I should simply suck it up. Ever since then, I've been somewhat of a dental coward.

After graduating, I moved to FL. My dentist there was great... gentle, caring, careful, etc. Though I was afraid before every single appointment, I was able to make myself go every 6 months.

About 5 years ago, I moved back to NEPA. Probably at least once a month since then, I promise myself that I'll find a dentist & make an appointment. Obviously, I haven't done that. To make matters worse, my fear has increased as time has gone on. I feel like I've surpassed "coward", & that I'm verging on "phobic".

It's a vicious cycle. The more time goes by, the more I realize that my teeth need dental care, the more my fears increase, the more I put off doing it.

The situation is reaching critical mass because I've recently been experiencing some pain, probably due to some old fillings that need to be replaced. So..... I'm begging for your advice!

I'm looking for a good dentist in the Mountaintop/Wilkes-Barre area who has experience dealing with dental cowards. The hygienist(s) also have to be good, caring, gentle, careful, etc., since they too have the power to easily cause a patient pain.

Thanks so much in advance for your help, and thanks for letting me get this off of my chest! I'm very ashamed that I let things get this far, and I've kept this secret from everyone in my life... parents, boyfriend, etc.

[nepadaisy]

I loved Dr. Loren Grossman in Kingston. He did some extractions for me a few years ago and I loved the way he was calm and compassionate, and very clever about distracting me from what was going on. I believe he offers a discount if you're a WVIA member, or at least at that time he did.

[Magritte25]

I've heard good things about Dr. Steven Lawrence in Kingston. Good luck!

[sheena12]

I have had a wonderful experience with Dr.Shemo in Wilkes Barre.
He was very gentle, precises and knowledgeable in many phases of dentistry.
He was also personable and overly courteous and accommodating
Better than ANY dentist I had on Long Island!

Excellent credentials too..

[BXWB]

Dr. John Dougherty...he is in Mountaintop...not sure of the address....many years of experience. He is my Uncle so I am kind of partial.

[aNEPAgirl]

Thanks so much to the four of you for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it!

[odessa3]

Casey Dental in Pittston Twp. (Oak St.) is also great. I changed to Dr. Casey after several bad experiences with my prior dentist. Gentle, calm, nice atmosphere there, and they specialize in children, so they know how to deal with scared patients!