It would appear that Adolf Hitler was scared of the dentist. Now, this isn’t exactly the most unusual of fears that people have. in fact a lot of people rank being scared of a dentist more terrifying than a certain eight-legged creature. If you think about it, it kind of makes sense. Although a dentist relieves dental pain, the only way that they can achieve this is by creating pain. This additional pain coupled with needles, of which a lot of people have a deep-seated phobia, and unusual devices that make an array of spine chilling sounds make dentists one of the most feared professions in the world. So was Hitler really scared of the dentist, because such an admission would have ruined the image that he was projecting to the German people?
This is really rather difficult to say with any degree of certainty. As you will notice in our title and the first sentence, we said that it appears that Hitler was scared of dentists. The reason no one can say with any degree of certainty is because Hitler never admitted to being afraid of the dentist, and the only evidence we have to go on is the word of his personal treating dentist, and he didn’t specifically say it either. So what did he say?
Following the end of the Second World War, Hitlers dentist, Johannes Blaschke was captured and held in captivity until 1948. While in captivity Blaschke was scathing of the former dictator, not because of the atrocities he had committed, but because of his dental health. He revealed that Hitler didn’t quite have the best dental hygiene and would delay or postpone important appointments. It was like he always had a more pressing issue at hand to deal with. This was certainly true sometimes, as was the case in December 1944 when he was scheduled for a root canal, but failed to have the procedure carried out. The event that was more important was none other than the Battle of the Bulge. Hitler could have let his generals deal with the situation, but what kind of autocratic ruler would allow that to happen?
But he wouldn’t only delay and postpone important appointments, he completely avoided regular checkups. Between about 1934 and the outbreak of war, Hitler allowed for a regular checkup at intervals of between three and four months, but when war erupted in Europe that all stopped. Hitler’s teeth continued to deteriorate to the point that he had several untreated cavities, chipped and broken teeth, discolored and loose teeth, and gingivitis. He was also said to have terrible halitosis. His mouth, like his mind, was in a state of utter disrepair.
Although he never admitted it, it can be assumed that Adolf Hitler was scared of the dentist. All of his poor dental hygiene and unnecessary postponements of appointments could certainly give the impression that he had an odontophobia.
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