That’s it, I’m done. I went to the dentist yesterday (and spent 20 minutes there before they told me they didn’t take my insurance even though their website said they did but actually it was the PPO and now the HMO but NEVERMIND), and while in the waiting room I overheard a strange voice. “Ask your dentist if Conscious Sedation is right for you!” it proclaimed joyfully, “During the procedure, you won’t be aware of time passing!”
There were other segments on things like Root Canals: Do You Even Know What They Are And Why They’re Completely Necessary, and Braces: Not Just For Teens!, and in the 20 minutes I spent there I was basically sold why I should be at the dentist.
Look, bud, I’m already there, and YOU’RE the schmucks who didn’t take my insurance in the first place. Don’t sell me root canals where I breathe funny gas through a Miss Piggy mask if you’re not gonna give up the dang goods. Anyway, I found out that this is totally a thing! There are multiple companies whose sole mission is to make video content for your dentist waiting room. “You know you need video to market and promote your dental practice,” says this spunky blond lady. No you do not! You do not need video! You need large amounts of fluoride and maybe a sign outside of a tooth with braces sitting on a toothbrush, but that’s about it!
What happened to the old fashioned dentists? The ones that were actually just barbers but would pull a tooth if you dared them? Dentists that didn’t need fancy video marketing tools, just weird plier-type tools and a spit bucket? If you need me I’ll be chewing rocks out of spite.
Tags: conscious sedation sounds horrifying, dentistry, modernity, what happened to good ol’ knocking you out?
I had my wisdom teeth pulled a few weeks ago and I kind of loved being put under. One minute I was staring up at the ceiling while the nurse fussed with my IV and the next I was waking up with gauze in my mouth. Screw consciousness. If I could have slept through the 2+ weeks of recovery, I would have.
Oh god, I wish I’d had that. I went to a dental surgeon whatever and all they gave me was Novocaine. It took TWO DAYS for them to do the full root canal, 2-3 hours each day, and I was crying through the entire thing and the dentist and his male assistant kept ignoring me and talking about TV shows and vacations, and the only one who was nice to me was the (female) assistant who would come in during their breaks and hold my hand and talk to me.
Suffice it to say I was already dentist-phobic, and I’ve pretty much refused to/been incapable of going to the dentist since they capped that tooth.
GAH why did it take 2 days?? I just got three root canals and it took 3 hours… but it was all done in one shot. I did cry. Once while they did the Novocaine- because my face was swollen from my injury, as my dentist later explained, injecting anything into crowded swollen tissue hurts like hell, and then I just cried when it was over because I was so exhausted???? I am now so terrified of the novocaine shots that at my follow up appointment for my crowns yesterday, my dentist just asked if I didn’t want the shots because I looked so terrified waiting for them. Luckily since my teeth don’t have nerves it wasn’t super painful beyond some stuff getting shoved into my gums.
I also have the worst of both worlds, since when I woke up from sedation after wisdom teeth surgery I was bawling and shaking violently as my first conscious memory.
Please teeth just stay healthy from now on :/
I think it was because my tooth was cracked and the gums had sort of… moved into it… and they had to remove that before they could do the actual root canal? But mostly because I think that Doctor was awful. He seemed more focused on chatting with his buddy than on me/my tooth, tbh. That and I have a very very high novacaine tolerance (i.e., it barely affects me and wears off fast) so they had to give me another shot every 10 mins. I swear I had like 20+ shots in one day.
Eek, I’m glad getting your crown didn’t hurt too bad! I have very sensitive gums so without novacaine that one was painful too.
But oh no, you’re not making me any more hopeful about sedation!
UNACCEPTABLE
Write that bastard a bad yelp review and find someone else to take care of your oral health. You should NOT be crying. Yes, you might be uncomforatble, but a good dentist will do what they can to minimize/mitigate that for you, and should react to your tears! (When I 1st went back to the dentist after YEARS of not going, I was crying at one point during the exam and the dentist herself actually wiped my tears away).
YES. The most important thing a dentist ever told me was “It should never hurt.” And he meant it.
Oh no!! That is terrible. My old dentist (why did I move?) was fanatical about pain relief, really, would cheerfully let me sit there forever until my head was numb. And all my sister had to do for her root canal was say “look I’m even afraid of the novocaine” and they got her laughing gas immediatley and since she kept saying “I think I still feel it” they kept giving her doses until she was giggling through the procedure.
I have yet to find a new dentist since moving, although I met the dentist at Crown and Glory Dental and she seemed nice but my insurance is changing AGAIN so, wheee.
Going under for my wisdom teeth extractions was by far one of the loveliest experiences I’ve ever had at ANY doctor. I just remember swearing at the (slight) pain of the needle poke (and feeling bad for cursing in front of my dad), then a bright light and dreamy kaleidoscopic hallucinations, and then I woke up and my dad was videotaping me drooling blood and spit everywhere. So I didn’t feel bad about swearing at him anymore?
I was put under via IV for my wisdom teeth too, and shot full of pain killers before they woke me up, and when they woke me up I just laughed and laughed because the idea of sitting up all the way was hilarious to me at the time.
I then announced loudly that I really had to pee and made my mom stay in the bathroom so she could help me get up when I was done.
I looked at my chart on a follow up: a benzodiazepine (don’t remember which one) and KETAMINE.
When I had my wisdom teeth pulled, the last thing I remembered was talking to my dentist about my fondness canoe trips, and then I suddenly woke up in a dark room with my mom reading a book next to me. I tried to talk, realized there was gauze in my mouth. Mom said, “Don’t pull the gauze out, hon.” I pulled the gauze out. Nurse had to come in and re-pack me.
I keep seeing those references to gauze, and spitting out buckets of blood… When I had my wisdom teeth taken out, I got stitches on my gums: almost no bleeding, really easy recovery. Is that unusual? Do dentists save stitches for a few lucky patients?
I had minimal bleeding, but a former coworker had hers out and the sockets didn’t stop bleeding for days (weeks?). She used teabags to soak up the blood. I think it probably varies by how complicated your extraction is (I don’t know her situation, but mine was more preventative than immediately necessary) and also by provider.
I had more complicated than usual wisdom tooth extractions. There were 5 (?!) and two were impacting each other. (They also did some bone grafting to the front of my mouth so there was enough to hold the titanium post for an implant, which was much more painful than the extractions but not bloody, so insurance would cover anesthesia for the implant) and it took a few days to get the bleeding stopped. I vaguely remember having gauze in my mouth when we drove to my cousin’s wedding a couple of states over (from where we lived in San Jose, CA) I was on some good painkillers for the grafting pain
I had no gauze or blood spitting. It is reported that I was crying a lot, but not from pain – I was sad that my teeth were gone and I didn’t get to keep them, or so I am told.
I always hear stories about people who get their wisdom teeth out and then get all kinds of cool extras like general anaesthetic or prescription sedatives. I got nothing but the local freezing. The upside is it didn’t hurt, so I guess I didn’t need any of that cool stuff, but c’mon. Gimme the fun.
At the end of the procedure, already somewhat disappointed at not having been put under, I asked my dentis, “are you going to prescribe me anything for pain?” She looked at first quizzical look and then concerned as she replied “oh, does it hurt?” Semi-apologetically mumbled, “no… but maybe it will after the freezing wears off?” She replied, “well, it shouldn’t, but if it does, you can take Tylenol. Call me if it gets really bad, though.” It never did hurt. I couldn’t even use pain as an excuse for all the ice cream I ate.
Anyways, it probably means my dentist is excellent and not out to milk the insurance companies with charges for unnecessary procedures/products, and I guess I should be pleased about that, but I can’t help feeling that the fates cheated me.
Oh my god is that STEVE MARTIN? I almost don’t recognize him without the white hair :/
I am old. That is Steve Martin, in his role as the sadistic and evil dentist in the 1986 film Little Shop of Horrors (based on the off-Broadway musical, based on a 1960 Roger Corman black comedy cult film.) Bill Murray plays his masochistic patient.
This song will be in my head the rest of the day, and I haven’t even heard it. Just seeing the image was enough! I might have to go look it up and just watch it.
I had my wisdom teeth out at a place that was like. . . also a spa? Kind of? They do botox and other cosmetic procedures and it was full of tinkling water sounds and lots of natural light and a very, very tanned dentist who made jokes about spitting vs swallowing (FOR REALS though I was high as shit so maybe not for reals?) It didn’t take long and I had lots of laughing gas so I won’t argue with it too much but I too came away with a sense that this was not the dentistry my foremothers fought and died for. And of course there’s an industry around dentist waiting room videos. Of course there is.
“(FOR REALS though I was high as shit so maybe not for reals?)” lollin’ hard
My last dentist was in the suburbs and was constantly trying to sell me veneers and whitening programs. At every visit they would ask, “Are you happy with your smile?” Ugh.
I had my wisdom teeth removed by a guy who did all sorts of facial surgery. As I was coming in, a lady of a certain age was leaving, wearing big dark glasses after getting some face lift work done.
My dentist place in San Francisco was like that- I just picked it because it was walkable and covered by my insurance. On my first visit, when I was having some serious/scary tooth pain checked out, a dental hygienist named Adonis asked if I’d considered Botox and I very nearly cried.
Can they start doing this on airplanes for those of us afraid of flying? Ha ha, I kid…kind of.
I love being sedated at the dentist because Novocaine does not work on me, and it’s that or gripping the arms of the chair with white knuckles and snapping at the dentist when he stops to “see if I’m ok” because I am clearly in pain. NO I AM NOT OK, but you must forge on and FINISH THIS!
I’m like yes, give me all the gas my insurance allows, mwa ha ha! Which is not much…so usually I just deal with the pain. 🙁
If they could guarantee the sedation would allow me to be able to get off the plane when it landed in my actual city, I would be 10000000% be down for this. Since I travel alone, I can’t just knock myself out for the flights since I’m also terrified of not being able to be woken up to get off the plane.
SERIOUSLY HOW IS THIS NOT ALREADY A THING. I just take anti anxiety meds and wait for death.
When I had my wisdom teeth out, I went from awake, to gone, to awake when it was over (yes, I was out of it and telling the nurses how to make absinthe for some reason but I was awake). And I was like, why can’t I do this on a plane?? I mean, it’s probably more likely to die under sedation than in a plane crash or some other kind of rational shit like that but…but….
Klonopin: best thing ever for flying. And my doctors have been really decent about my “taking a plane trip, hook me up with a dozen” requests.
Also yes. Also, a question: when they smear the pre-needle stuff on your gums, they’re supposed to wait a minute or two before jabbing, right? Because the last dentist I went to was like “time makes no difference, *SHANK*” and then got all annoyed when I made pained noises.
Fortunately, I have oxycodone left from a way-less-painful surgery, and plan on taking that the next time I have work done.
In theory yes, they smear the pre needle stuff on. I am convinced it is Vaseline and just there for psychological effect, so you THINK the needle won’t hurt. But the injectable stuff does not work on me either so I’m like look, let’s not kid ourselves. Well no, it works for about 35 seconds. All the ‘caines do nothing for me – Nova, Lido, etc. Let me tell you about the time I had to have a skin biopsy in a VERY delicate area and found out about the lidocaine not working! That was a fun day.
All my dentists have walked away after the initial numbing and gone on to do something else. They then come back, do the injection, ask if I’m okay, then leave. When my lips feel like the size of Jupiter, they come back in yet again and start to work.
So, yes. They should wait. Raise (novo)Caine.
Thank you!
Going in to new place today. Would like to find a compromise between “costs all the money” and “all work done by Eastern European woman who thinks pain-free life is degeneracy of the Western world.” (Which is…an alarmingly common demographic in the practices around here, or at least in my experience.)
I have a friend who’s a dentist, and it’s given me paranoia about dentists. She’s a good dentist and I assume most dentists are good dentists, but she’s had to quit multiple jobs because of offices that schedule fillings for half the time it should take or are actively defrauding Medicaid or whatever.
So I basically went with the oldest dentist in the least snazzy office building I could find. They play the Food Network on TVs above their chairs which seems like an excellent choice.
I recently had to see an emergency dentist after getting my teeth shattered, the ER told me not to wait and my regular dentist didn’t have any availability that morning.
It was horrifying. They kept making me sign documents about how I acknowledged they explained the price to me (quoted $14,000 for something that ended up being ~$7,000 and covered by medical insurance, which they didn’t mention to me). they tried to pressure me into buying some out of pocket 3D imaging, saying they couldn’t do a good job without it. The dentist told me he could do 3 root canals and rebuild my teeth 4 days after my injury. Also weird stuff like not putting the x-ray cape on me while taking x-rays….
I just left after they told me it would be $14,000 out of pocket since I was fucking panicking. My dentist fit me in later that day and I just started crying because he was so nice, and did things like give me a proper x-ray at no charge since the other place charged me. He referred me to an endodontist, who wanted to wait an additional week until my mouth had healed (I mean I had stitches all over my lip, no idea how the other guy was going to do my root canals only a few days after i left the ER). And explained that I needed to talk to my medical insurance since they should cover dental accidents.
LONG LIVE GREAT DENTISTS.
no most dentists are shysters
“Where Have All The Manly Dentists Gone?” – Jaya Saxena
I go to a pretty old-school dentist (not totally old-school; he isn’t just a barber who pulls teeth). No videos, no upsell, no unnecessary drugs or procedures. He actively campaigns against the tendency of some dentists who tell you that you have to fill every tiny cavity. He says that does more damage than the tiny cavity so if it isn’t penetrating through the whatever layer or causing pain or growing rapidly, you should leave it alone.
Conscious sedation sounds like my worst nightmare. I hate being drugged. I had two wisdom teeth pulled out with laughing gas and the laughing gas was far far worse than the teeth pulling. Thereafter, I have had all dental procedures, including root canals, removal of the other wisdom teeth, and gum surgeries, with only local anesthetic. It’s SO MUCH BETTER that way. I like to retain the ability to stand up and walk away, should that ever become necessary.
Conscious sedation sounds like my worst nightmare.
FOR. REAL. Like, what happens if I can feel everything but can’t tell them I’m in pain? That’s…ugh. UGH. Just the idea.
I reportedly started to wake up during my wisdom teeth extraction. I say reportedly because THANK GOD I have no memory of this.
OTOH, I was actually seeing a hypnotherapist at the time who gave me a prompt to read before they put me under, and despite having awful teeth and awful pain/healing in general, my recovery was a snap compared to what I was expecting.
I remember waking up a little bit during my wisdom teeth – I know I opened my eyes, and I could feel them doing things in my mouth, but there was no pain and I went right back to sleep.
Conscious sedation sounds like either (1) hypnosis or (2) something Gwyneth Paltrow came up with. Just knock me out. With a 2×4 if you have to.
My mother works in dentistry, and her boss when I was growing up was that stereotypical old school dentist. He was mad when the ADA/health department told him to wear gloves, and he pulled peoples teeth for free as a favor all the time. But on the plus side, when I would go visit my mom at work, he would let me shake his jar of teeth. (Which I’m sure now is all kinds of against bio-hazard laws)
Now my mom is working in pediatric dentistry, and it’s another kind of terrifying. They have stuffed animals to make the kids feel more comfortable, but they all have a full set of teeth. It’s like something out of a horror movie. Teddy bears, dolls, and stuffed animals grinning with bared teeth. *shudder*
And did you know that some children spontaneously vomit at the dentist? My mom just sees it as a minor inconvenience. She tells me about her day, and says it was a little annoying because another kid puked on her when she was trying to clean their teeth. And then she asks why I didn’t follow in the family trade…
SHAKE THE JAR OF TEETH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nothing has ever made me fonder of the Old School than the fact that it was responsible for letting a little girl regularly shake a JAR OF HUMAN TEETH.
Like, we should definitely make dentists wear gloves, but we should also let them allow children to shake jars of ethically sourced human teeth.
I am the adult that vomits at the dentist. It’s ridiculous because I’m not afraid of or upset by the dentist; something about a couple of the things they do (X-ray tabs touching the top of my mouth and impression goo) just…make it happen. My dentist is so nice about it ever since the first time I actually puked but THE SHAME OF BEING THE PUKER THEY ARE EXTRA CAREFUL WITH. THE SHAME.
If it makes you feel any better, she doesn’t seem to mind! It’s just a less-than-pleasant part of her day. No stigma attached!
That is excellent to know. I am one of those people who hates and fears vomiting and that does make me feel better.
Fun dentist story: When I was like 10 I had to get a bunch of teeth pulled because my mouth was overcrowded and I needed braces, so they did it in two goes–left side and right side. When I got my right side done they gave me the novocaine shot, but it only partially worked, so I still felt most of the pain with just a bit of numbness on top of it. I told them and they gave me another shot, and it didn’t get any better, but they were like “well we can’t give you any more” so I just went through with getting three teeth pulled at half-sensation.
My mom is so terrified of the dentist she gets a Valium beforehand and laughing gas during, just to clean her teeth.
This is me too. I can’t drive myself to the dentist because of dental anxiety. Dentists that offer sedation and are kind about anxiety are the best. I’m so glad I found one.
Tangentially related – do advertisements at medical establishments creep you out? Because I had to visit a dermatologist recently and spent an awkward amount of time waiting to enter the examination room while staring at a poster for what is essentially face-filler. There was an artist’s rendering of a young woman with perky cheeks and then an elderly woman with her cheekfat all sliding down and becoming jowls and then the same elderly woman with the face filler injected into her, presumably looking more like an acceptable human being and I was equal parts horrified for the grim future of my perky cheekfat and also annoyed because dammit, we should be allowed to just let that shit slide down inside our faces and not give a fuck, and I shouldn’t have to get upset by a stupid poster.
see also: *any* type of fashion/fitness/lifestyle/whatever magazine in the waiting area at a PSYCHIATRY OFFICE especially when some of their doctors specialize in eating disorder therapy
D: D: D:
Yes. I love my dentist, but the one thing I do not love is that she sends me emails advertising various services like teeth-whitening.
I also really hate when doctors have the TVs in their waiting room that show “informational” things about various conditions you might have and the treatments for them, because reading/hearing about various disesases/conditions can often give me anxiety/panic attacks. Which, on the one hand, I suppose a doctor’s office is a good place for that, but on the other hand, I don’t need to add on to the anxiety I already feel about a) the doctor and b) waiting
I just had to go to the dermatologist, who has an “aesthetician” (sorry that is not a word not sorry) practice and there was a FORM AT INTAKE trying to sell me Botox & “laser rejuvenation” and I checked the “other” box on “service I am interested in” and wrote I AM HERE FOR NECESSARY MEDICAL CARE NOT AESTHETICS in bitchy caps.
And now the biopsy has come back positive so I have to go back to the place of Your Face There Are Things Wrong With Your Face LET US FIX YOUR HIDEOUS FACE and you can guess how I feel about that.
Oh man, I hate going to the dentist. When my son had to get his wisdom teeth out and they told me it would be approximately $$Eleventy Billion Dollars to put him under, since my insurance doesn’t really cover that, or considerably less with just Novocaine, I was like “I WILL PAY ALL THE MONEYS DON’T HURT MY BABY!” That kid better appreciate his Mama, is all I’m sayin.
I’m happy to say have a lovely dentist – especially after seeing everyone else’s horror stories. I just got a temporary crown put in on a baby tooth that’s still hanging on in there, and it went pretty well! One of the assistants actually held my hand when the dentist went to poke me with the face-numbing stuff needle. Also, everyone there is very understanding of my very strong gag reflex and helps make everything comfortable so I don’t end up barfing on everything (unlike some people I could mention at my old orthodontist “just don’t think about it!! mind over matter! you’ll be fine :)” no, its not fine. oops i barfed all over you, wow if only someone had warned you this could have happened). The only awful bit about this procedure was smelling the bits of my tooth that were being shaved away to make room for the crown (seriously, it smells like the worst burning smell ever) but that would have happened regardless.
I’m right there with you on the burning tooth smell thing. To me that is always the worst part of getting dental work done.
Isn’t “conscious sedation” just a new term for the “twilight sleep” that women in labor were put under back in the day?
One time I went to a dentist who asked me if I had tried ***prayer*** as a remedy for my dental anxiety…
legit though I have never prayed as hard as I have in a dentist’s chair though. 😛 (but he sounds no bueno.)
“Ask your dentist if Conscious Sedation is right for you!” it proclaimed joyfully, “During the procedure, you won’t be aware of time passing!”
It seems impossible that this passage is not directly quoted from a Philip K. Dick story.
“Longer than you think, Dad! Longer than you think!”
What happened to the old fashioned dentists? The ones that were actually just barbers but would pull a tooth if you dared them?
Ooh, I know this one! They’re dental corps officers in our various armed services branches now! My dad was one for 30 years, and now he’s semi-retired and teaching at the state medical school. He occasionally laments not having gone into private practice and made a metric shit ton of money, but I think he enjoyed cultivating his Sweeney Todd persona. He once hauled me out of a restaurant where I would not stop disgustingly tonguing my loose tooth for all to see, bent me over the front passenger seat of the minivan and yanked the tooth out, and then sent me back in to finish my supper. Dentistry! (he is actually quite gentle and kind)
On a more serious note, if you’re looking for a dentist and there’s a medical university in your town with a dental school, check to see if they have a faculty practice. It’s usually cheaper than private practice, but not terrifying like the student clinic. Also, if you’re desperate and really don’t have the funds at all/have no insurance, see if your state or city does an annual free dental day. You will have to wait in a long-ass line, but you will get care from good practitioners who care about helping the underserved in their communities.
And also, if you are near a dental school, they usually offer cheap services for you to be, essentially, the guinea pigs in students’ lab sessions. It will usually take longer than a regular dental appointment, and they screen you to be sure that you have the kind of issues that the students need to work on (“we need to schedule 15 regular fillings for the first years, and 2 root canals for Sally!”), and the work is overseen by professors to make sure they do it right, which can take even more. But if you have no money and really need dental work, this is the way to go.
It is, in fact, the route I took in grad school, when it turned out I needed, among other things, 2 root canals. My student was lovely, but one of those root canals was a real bear, and I suspect she was probably weeping to her professor over how badly it was going. Several years later, when I could afford to go to a real dentist, I got a referral through one of those things like 1-800-DENTIST and after the guy had looked at my teeth for a while, he said, “Didn’t you have work done by [name of student] at UCLA a few years ago?” Yup, he was the professor overseeing her lab. He didn’t remember my name, but evidently he remembered my teeth.
20 years later, he’s still my dentist.
There’s an optometrist between the subway stop and my apartment that has a big-screen TV on, 24 hours a day, playing informational videos on everything optometry related. This ranges from the innocent (eye health fact or fiction? reading by dim light damages your eyesight) to the gruesome (clinical illustrations explaining laser eye surgery; thanks, now I’m too scared to get it) but I never don’t look when I walk by.
I have a pretty tortured dental history, beginning from being given an anti-seizure medicine as a toddler that rotted my baby teeth so much the family dentist refused to treat me. Then none of my baby teeth fell out. Literally. None. They all had to be pulled.
Actually, conscious sedation is. . .a little tempting? Although I would also settle for just not having the dentist or hygenist talk to me at all. I can deal more or less with pain (woo fibromyalgia!), and I can deal more or less with awkward small talk (woo social anxiety disorder!), and kind of deal with “advice” that makes me feel like a gross failure for not brushing my teeth every hour on the hour and flossing 30 minutes a day (woo low self-esteem!), but not all three at once. I would avoid the dentist way less if I could just plug in my headphones and ignore ignore ignore.
My dentist HANDS YOU headphones! And logs you into her Netflix account! (Although then she still tries to talk to you, so I guess it’s something they learn in dental school — “No matter what, you must make small talk with your patients.” “What if they’re trying to watch Legally Blonde on Netflix, and also both of my hands are in their mouth, so they can neither hear me nor answer me?” “NO MATTER WHAT.”)
Two monks invent dentistry?
When I had my wisdom teeth out, I had nitrous and novacaine, and the dentist told me I was free to bring headphones and a CD player. Def helped.
I always wear headphones and listen to music during my dental appointments. I’ve never had a problem with this, and some dentists have told me they wish MORE of their patients would do it.
And something new to me: they will give you sunglasses! Those awful bright lights? Ask for sunglasses. Makes such a difference, you wouldn’t believe.
I wish that was the default for things like hairdressers too- professional deals with [area of specialism], service user sits still and has physical form seen to, half an hour later you’re out the door, no awkward opinions on holidays necessary.
I know! Like, I want to splurge on a pedicure and feel all relaxed and pampered or whatever, but it still feels rude to say, “Um, I’d kind of prefer to totally ignore you and read my book while you handle my feet.” Granted, I probably can’t read while I get my eyebrows plucked, but I would love to never have to make small talk about whether the pain is worth it or whatever again.
Conscious sedation is my default state.
I avoided the dentist for years, first because I had no money, and then because I had dental insurance but was just lazy and also scared. I was so afraid that I was going to go and they would tell me all my teeth had rotted away and needed to be pulled.
BUT then I went to a dentist that my coworker recommended, and she was great. She sold her practice to another, equal great dentist, so if any of you are in the DC Metro area and looking for a dentist, LMK and I will hook you up, because they are GREAT. (The dentist was a hygienist first, so she actually cleans your teeth herself, and every exam includes checking your jaw/chin/neck for any issues, not just cleaning your teeth and looking for cavities)
It also really bums me out that dental care isn’t part of the whole Obama care thing, because oral/dental health is tied to overall physical health, especially cardiac health, but we act like it’s just some optional add-on.
I registered with a new dentist recently, and the registration form I filled in also asked if I would be interested in any of the other services they offered, like lip fillers and tooth whitening. No! I just want a straightforward annual checkup of my dental health!
Where have all the dentists gone,
Long time passing?
Where have all the dentists gone,
Long time ago?
Where have all the dentists gone?
Retired to Florida, every one;
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
No problem! I'm actually thinking of switching dentists, since I picked mine based on proximity when I chipped a tooth a couple years back, so when I move next month I'm going to try to find someone new, and hopefully get off on a better foot.
YES please let me know the name of this magical dentist!! I've been here 7 years and have tried 5 dentists.
I always hear stories about people who get their wisdom teeth out and then get all kinds of cool extras like general anaesthetic or prescription sedatives. I got nothing but the local freezing. The upside is it didn't hurt, so I guess I didn't need any of that cool stuff, but c'mon. Gimme the fun.
At the end of the procedure, already somewhat disappointed at not having been put under, I asked my dentis, "are you going to prescribe me anything for pain?" She looked at first quizzical look and then concerned as she replied "oh, does it hurt?" Semi-apologetically mumbled, "no… but maybe it will after the freezing wears off?" She replied, "well, it shouldn't, but if it does, you can take Tylenol. Call me if it gets really bad, though." It never did hurt. I couldn't even use pain as an excuse for all the ice cream I ate.
Anyways, it probably means my dentist is excellent and not out to milk the insurance companies with charges for unnecessary procedures/products, and I guess I should be pleased about that, but I can't help feeling that the fates cheated me.