The dentist

Our family has not had very good luck with dentists here in Ohio. The first one that we went to miraculously found cavities in all of our teeth every time we went in. This is suspect since none of us have had cavities, ever, before we moved here. Clearly this guy just wanted to fill and bill. The second guy was wonderful but by the time we discovered him our dental insurance was about to change and he wasn't covered anymore. Our new insurance assigned us to a random dentist, I didn't know any better so I figured we would try it out. Here is how it went down.

First of all, just making the appointment is an issue since I have to coordinate my work schedule, Tom's work schedule, the kid's school schedule, swim practice and baby sitting for the younger kids. After searching for several weeks we finally found a day that worked for me and Taylor. Tom and Miriya will be going in at a later time. Oh and this dentist won't see Isaac because he is too young. We'll have to call the insurance company and be reassigned to a pediatric dentist. (We won't make Nick go since he doesn't have teeth.)

So Taylor and I get to the dental office on the appropriate day after leaving Isaac and Nick with Miriya because Tom is in Japan. First of all, the dentist office smells like cigarette smoke. This should have been a tip off that things were going to be bad as the smell means that we were in the company of blue collar, uninsured, disability receiving clients (or worse, employees), but we proceeded anyway. We were greeted by receptionist Ratchet who was extremely rude. She then demanded my insurance card and immediately called the insurance company right there to verify coverage. Now I don't have a problem with verifying my coverage, after all I work with people every day that lie about their coverage. But this lady spoke so loudly that Taylor, who was sitting on the other side of the room and around the corner could hear. I don't think that my insurace is the business of the rest of the losers in the waiting room. But wait there is more. Amongst all the paperwork is an application for credit. Hmm, like I want the dentist to issue me a loan. Umm, do I look like my teeth are rotten and that I haven't been to the dentist ever in my life? Did I drive up in a big foot truck or a low rider with an obscene tail fin? Do I have that Kentucky drawl? I think not.

We finally pass receptionist Ratchet and are taken to the exam room. There is exactly one chair, the reclining dental seat. Surely they are going to take me to another exam room or at least bring in a chair for me to sit on while Taylor gets his teeth cleaned, right? Wrong! Whichever one of us was not being examined had to stand up and wait. Notice that I did not say that we had to stand during our teeth cleaning? Well that would be because they don't happen to have a hygienist at the moment but they were kind enough to put us on the list to come back when they finally get one hired.

The dentist started by asking Taylor, who is 13 years old, whether he had ever been to the dentist. She then told him that she was going to count his teeth. Taylor looked at me and rolled his eyes. I wanted to roll my eyes too, but as an adult, it is not usually socially acceptable, plus I might lose my balance and fall since I had been standing for the past 45 minutes. After the "exam" we were ushered back to receptionist Ratchet to place our name on the waiting list for the hygienist. I was relieved to finally come home. What a collosal waste of time not to mention precious babysitting resources! I feel like calling the insurance company and telling them not to pay. Anyway, I plan to cancel Tom and Miriya's appointments. What's the point if they can't get their teeth cleaned? We never have cavities. I will call the insurance company on Monday to get our dentist changed, there has to be something better.

Sorry about the venting. I wish there were a communal website for bad dentists like there is for bad doctors. I know of at least 2 that I could add to it.