Dentists Are People Too!

As promised, this is my follow-up post about why the dentist dreads the patient. I feel it's the right thing to do, after all, out of fairness to the dentist. The following is a serious but humorous accounting of information I have gathered over the years...believe me, the dentists have horror stories too, they just don't complain as much...to us, that is! Here we go:

1. The number one complaint is: "No Shows". That's right, this is the flip side of us having to wait for an hour past our appointment time. When we don't show for an appointment, it costs them money in the form of what we call "chair time". Not that they don't welcome the break....I once witnessed a dentist who had some free time on his hands dancing up and down the hallway wearing reindeer antlers (made out of plastic gloves) and singing Christmas Carols. And he was very out of tune!

2. They hate it when they've done a treatment plan, recommended a root canal or filling and then the patient doesn't follow the professional advice and a year down the road, oh oh...it's abscessed, and the patient declares an emergency! Know what the dentist is thinking? Something like this: "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part....." But of course he/she would never tell you that so the office receptionist graciously sets you an appointment and he/she quietly fixes your tooth because that is what he/she was trained for... (and yet we still dread the dentist!)

3. They dread being bitten, kicked and spit at...and I'm not talking about children! There are adults out there who literally cannot control themselves. I swear, someone should publish a book with some of the stories I've been told. It would be a #1 Bestseller.

4. Frivolous complaints to the dental board. My goodness...you would not believe some of the things that are brought up in front of the Board. Some years ago I was given a copy of a complaint filed by an elderly woman against her dentist because during her treatment she was cold and he didn't have a warm blanket in his office to offer her. True story!

5. The proverbial "dental jokester". Seriously, do you know how many times in his/her career a dentist hears the words "I hate the dentist", or, "that was expensive, am I helping to pay for your Mercedes?". Now, there are a few dentists out there with a sense of humor but....really?

Well there it is...the other side of the coin. I n retrospect, the dentist really does get a bad rap. Trained to heal, just like a doctor, and dedicated to the patient, most of them anyway. I guess it's important to consider that Dentists are people too!

Keep Smiling!