Find me a dentist! Dentists?

Sorry for the hijack but does anyone have any strategies for dealing with serious anxiety about dental work?

Having a wisdom tooth out today at a new private dentist after the NHS one I visited would not have it that the lignacaine anaesthetic was not working until I leapt out of the chair when the drill hit the nerve. This was not the first time this has happened and I now have serious problems getting myself to the dentist, I've been putting it off for 8 weeks but now the cocodemol isn't working and I have to get it done.

They've said they'll try a bunch of anaesthetics and give me laughing gas but I still really don't fancy it. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's anxious about dental work so what does anyone else do?

And yes I will HTFU etc...

Not very helpful, but the best advice is get a good dentist. Once you've been to someone decent the fear fades quickly. My girlfriend's dad does my teeth and after the initial shock of being whisked to the surgery on the Sunday, the first weekend that I met them, I no longer really fear dental work at all; he's just really good, methodical and calming. He's like a craftsman.

I don't think you can generalise about German dental care standards, though. The old 'look how good the German health system is' adage we heard endlessly under the Tory government in the 80s (endless jibes about the NHS etc) is utter bollocks. I went to a doctor about an ingrowing, infected toenail, and she gave me an ointment based on tar. I then went to a podiatrist, who gave me a mixture of antitbiotics aluminium and witchcraft. I moved back to the UK, the doctor took one look, put me on antibiotics and arranged for me to get the damn thing operated on, which is exactly what needed to be done in the first place.