From a Dentist's Perspective (teeth, gums, hurts, pain)

[JohnRoxy]

10 Reasons Your Dentist Probably Hates You Too

1.* The first thing you say when you sit down in my chair is, “I hate the dentist.”* Really?!?* Did your parents teach you any manners?* Did they ever teach you that it is impolite to tell someone you hate them the moment you greet them?* What I really want to say back is, “aww, I hate you too.”

2.* You come to your appointment, and it’s obvious you haven’t brushed your teeth in days.* I’ve had some people with great hygiene come in and apologize because they’ve just eaten lunch and couldn’t brush.* This is not what I’m talking about.* I mean food and thick plaque*everywhere.* After 10 years of seeing blood and rotten teeth and some really nasty things, this is still the 1 thing that makes me dry heave.* You know, when you come to us, we have to be in your mouth.* Would you clean your home before having company?* Additionally, I have spent hours literally bending over backwards repairing your teeth.* Could you at least pretend that you are caring for the work that I have struggled to complete for you?

3.* After we have spent hours of meticulously repairing your teeth, you complain about the bill.* Would you walk out of the grocery store with a bag full of groceries and expect not to pay?* I have a ton of bills also and my assistants aren't doing their job for free.* I’ve just helped you to continue to smile and*eat comfortably, two pretty valuable things that help your quality of life.

4.* I tell you that you have a cavity and you need a filling, and you wait months or even years to get the necessary work done.* Eventually the tooth starts hurting.* Two weeks of pain go by, and you call me on a Saturday night while I am at dinner with friends because your tooth that needed a filling a year ago and that started hurting 2 weeks ago is*suddenly*an emergency.

5.* You come to me so I can help you, but you make it hard for me to do a good job.* You wince and make faces when it’s not hurting.* The idea that I’m hurting you makes me just as uncomfortable and stressed as you are.* If it hurts, please tell me, and I can help you with that.* But if it’s because you don’t like the whole experience, you are only causing me to work in undesirable conditions, making it harder to do my best.* And when you push your tongue in the way, or you don’t open wide enough, it makes it physically impossible to get my work done.* Don’t you want it to be easy for me to do the best job for you?

6.* You call and say, “my tooth didn’t hurt before you worked on it.”* You came to me with a cavity.* I did not put it there.* You did.* I am simply fixing a rotten hole that was in your tooth.* To do so, I must use a tiny drill to cut the rot out of your tooth.* If I took a drill, cut a hole in your femur bone, and then filled it in with a foreign material, don’t you think it might be sore for a while?* Same concept.

7.* When we try to take an x-ray, you won’t bite down on it.* We*have*to do this to see what is going on with your tooth.* Without knowing the problem, we can’t properly treat you.* I know, in some cases some people really can’t do it; but some people could and won’t just suck it up for 15 seconds.* I’ve had x-rays too, and they hurt and dig into my gums, but I just do it.

8.* You tell me that you bought my car for me after having a crown done.* Contrary to how it seems, you actually didn’t buy me a car.* You bought yourself a crown.* I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on an education, and have spent hours making this crown fit precisely in your mouth, so maybe you helped me make a portion of a student loan payment.* But you certainly didn’t buy my car.

9.* You no-show an appointment or cancel last-minute.* Some things are unavoidable, but when it’s because your hairdresser got a last-minute cancellation and you had to take that appointment instead, this is just rude.* Not only am I unable to fill the 2 hours of my schedule that I reserved specifically for you, but someone else who wanted to get in had to wait 2 weeks for his/her appointment.* And on that note, when you have the first appointment of the day, and you show up late for your appointment, I am late for every other patient the rest of the day.

10.* When I tell you that you grind your teeth, you deny it, as if I am accusing you of having a horrible disease or being a baby murderer.* It’s not*that*bad to be a tooth grinder.* I’m just pointing something out and maybe offering a way to prevent more problems in the future.* This observation is concluded from signs or symptoms that are based on real science, not myth.

And along those lines… bonus #11. You tell me a diagnosis I make is simply wrong without listening to me.* If you know so much, why are you coming to me?* You do the filling or root canal yourself.* You obviously don’t need me.

Aaahhh… I feel much better now.

[Annie53]

Hi Paul.....I am probably your ideal patient.....as I do none of the above.

If you don't mind....I do have a question.

I have several crowns......why is it that they are always "too high"?

I have one that had to be ground down so much that the porcelin veneer was completely ground away and metal shows through.....it looks like a tooth with a filling.

BTW....I never complained to or even mentioned this to my dentist either.....as it is a top molar and realistically.....no one will ever know about it but me and my dentist. {In fact, I don't even know if he realizes I actually took a mirror to take a look....and even know about it.}

He has been my dentist for many years and I am happy with the work he has done.

I am just curious as to why this happens. Is it the way he took the mold of my mouth? Is it the way the lab makes the tooth?

My next crown will be done by another dentist, since my dentist has had to hire another dentist to help him in his practice. My dentist is 60 and now has dystonia in his hands and can no longer do the actual work himself. He still comes to the office and checks your teeth after the hygenist has cleaned them sometimes. He isn't the type to totally quit working.....in fact he is now studying to become a lawyer. LOL

I am a bit nervous about the day when the new guy has to actually do some work on my teeth. I soothe myself by thinking that my dentist wouldn't hire some hack that would ruin his practice and make him look bad.

[MaryleeII]

Well, dear dentist, let me tell you how you lost 4 patients, all in one act!

I'm always on time for my appts, never cancel just before the appt, brush my teeth before the appt, all the "good patient" things.

Well, my last appt, which was for my dd, we sat there and waited 30+ minutes once she was in the chair. No apologies, not even an acknowledgement. Actually, Great Dentist (GD) acted p'od, like we were the problem. Then, following week, I came for my appt. 10 minutes before the appt, they start calling to see if I was going to make the appt. Because I'm not one of those cell phone jockeys that can handle the phone and drive safely, I had to pull over to answer---yes, I am coming, my appt isn't for another 10 min, I'm right in front of your place now. Then, while in the parking lot, they call again---are you coming---look, I just told you 2 min ago I'm on my way, take it easy. So, I enter the GD office to the looks of extreme disapproval on the faces of the staff. Not a good afternoon, nice to see you, just stone-faced slience, then, after I wait almost 30 min, they say the dentist will see you, like I'm being given audience to royalty.

So, in comes a p'od acting hygenist, who informs me that because I am late, they can't do a cleaning today. the GD can do an exam, and I can reschedule for a cleaning. Wait just a minute, first of all, I hardly consider 5 minutes late to be "late", and if you hadn't kept calling me every minute to see if I was coming I could have been on time. Also, what about last week, when I brought my dd to you, and we waited over 30 min, and you didn't even bother to acknowledge the fact that YOU were late, not us?

Seriously, did it ever occur to you your staff is jerking you around? They goof up on appts, then blame the patient, tell the doctor patient is late, when actually patient has been waiting since well before their appt time.


Well, at that point, I told the staff it works both ways, if they expect split-second timing, they should offer it as well. I cancelled my appt, my future appts, my dh, dd, and ds. hey, we have good insurance, too!

At least extend the same courtesy to your patients as you expect them to extend to you. We are not all scum of the earth, standing between you and your income, we ARE your income.

And be aware, if patients are habitually "late" check into it. they could be sitting there in the waiting room while your staff plays you like a violin telling you they're late, to cover up their own mistakes or take a break.

[OptimusPrime69]

I went to this indian lady who was my dentists and OMG, she was a dental nazi!!!
Good dentist, but very militant in her methods of dental work.
She sits me in the chair and tels me to open, fine.

Then she starts flossing the sh!!!!!t out of my teeth, im talking grinding the floss down the gum line til I was bleeding like someone took a ax to my face.

I'm wincing in pain, but being a good trooper, I just take it...take it like the little sissy I am... than she starts saying "rinse, rinse!!!" so as im spitting out a third of my blood supply into the sink, she starts telling me "that u need to floss harder, gums shouldnt bleed"

well guess what....THEY NORMALLY DONT!!! Only when one is nashing floss with brute force down onto my gums do they bleed, anyone's would. No, I dont have gum disease, she was just using all of her mite to intentionally hurt me.

Needless to say, my teeth looked amazing after her work and I continue to go back to her...... however, now I take a xanex close my eyes and open wide

[JohnRoxy]

Annie53:

I’m not an expert, just know a few dental workers. I found this amusing and quite true. Haha.
As far as your crowns, you should always be able to go back and have the doc check the occlusion and adjust it.
My best advice is to see a Prosthodontist for your crowns. It's their specialty and you might pay a bit more, but it will be done correctly. Also, you admit to grinding; your doc should make you a splint to wear while sleeping to preserve your teeth.

[Annie53]

Originally Posted by Pauljrnicole

Annie53:

My husband is the expert, not me. I found this amusing and quite true. I'm his worst patient actually. Haha.
As far as your crowns, you should always be able to go back and have the doc check the occlusion and adjust it.
My best advise is to see a Prosthodontist for your crowns. It's their specialty and you might pay a bit more, but it will be done correctly. Also, you admit to grinding; your doc should make you a splint to wear while sleeping to preserve your teeth.

Thanks for the reply. No, I don't grind my teeth. And, the crowns are always too high when he first puts them in. It just seems that they are always way, way too high.....I would think they would be closer to a perfect fit since that is what the mold would accomplish.......I think.

[JohnRoxy]

Most general dentists and staff don't know how to take a good impression and the lab that makes the crown probolby not too good either. Thats why a prostodonist can do a better job. They trained in this area for 3 years after dental school. They also pick the best labs or just make the crown themselves to make sure it's perfect.

[Annie53]

Originally Posted by Pauljrnicole

Most general dentists and staff don't know how to take a good impression and the lab that makes the crown probolby not too good either. Thats why a prostodonist can do a better job. They trained in this area for 3 years after dental school. They also pick the best labs or just make the crown themselves to make sure it's perfect.

I have never heard of a prostodontist. That sounds like a good idea. I wonder if they even have any in my area? Maybe just in larger cities? I will have to check it out.

Thanks for the information.

[Mouthpatient]

Dear Dentist, if you would be kind and educate, you might turn a patient who neglects their mouth into a clean one. You are working in the most sensitive part of the body. I'm sure you're on the verge of burnout. In fact I know you're burned out from your post. But a calm respectful approach is mightier than the offensive approach you've chosen.

[krichton]

it's always great to hear some dentist complain about patients when they're charging you an arm and a leg, sometimes for work that may even be completely unnecessary. Dentistry is a great job. You can milk your patients to death and they never know the difference.