Is there anything i can do to help myself get over my fear of the dentist?

Sure: You are probably fearful of the unknown or a past bad experience. Since you know you needs to have your teeth examined and restored, ask a trusted friend for a referral to a compassionate dentist. Explain your situation and your concerns at the first visit. A terrific dentist is not only great in dental skills, they are also good in people skills. Once you are comfortable, your fears will vanish.

Yelp!: The dentist is not there to hurt you. Go on yelp and find a dentist who people describe as super nice. Liking your dentist helps a lot. You can start doing "small" dental work, and after the first or second time you realize there actually is no pain or anxiety. Once you realize that you're not hurt and haven't lost control, you will quickly open up. I do it with pediatric patients and it works!

Start with sedation: Use oral or IV sedation to develop trust with your dentist. If you have fear that came from your childhood then it is going to take time, trust and a few tools, like sedation to begin to get rid of the fear of the dentist.

Break the cycle!: Usually fear keeps some patients away from a dentist until their dental issues become major problems requiring more invasive dental work. If all of your visits to a dentist begin with you in pain, not too much positive reinforcement there for you. My advice is to bite the bullet, explore sedation if necessary, get your oral health in order, than start fresh with regular maintenance visit.