I Like My Dentist, But I Hate Going All the Same
Jun 13th, 2007 by Alex
Have you ever noticed that most dental hygenists wear their poker face while doing routine cleanings? Even wearing a mask the eyes reveal nothing; they continue to poke, prod, and scrape at our teeth and gums. No outbursts or exclamations and certainly nothing to give the client sitting in the chair the sense that anything is wrong. Even when you’ve got serious problems, the hygenist won’t ever reveal them. Then the dentist comes in for a final check. He pokes and prods about and then attempts to push one of the poker-like tools into some crevice in a tooth until it sticks. This indicates that you have a cavity. If you went by the hygenist’s cleaning, you’d never had cavities. They’ll never find one. The dentist always finds them if they exist. Even if the hygenist finds a cavity, they defer to the dentist to be the bearer of the bad news. Do they teach that in dental school?
I went to the dentist today for my six month cleaning. I had a new hygenist that I’d never seen before. She commented that my teeth looked good but while I was waiting I noticed a few inscriptions written on the paper next to the chair (you know, the one they stick all the pointy tools on during the exam). Crap. Notes have got to be bad. The dentist comes in, pokes and prods. I hate cavities. I’ve had my fair share, but none since I’ve been on my own insurance (funny how that is). The last one was horrible; I didn’t get enough novacaine and the pain was a bit more intense than I was ready to handle. Needless to say I’m not looking forward to him finding a cavity, and the notes on the pad aren’t helping my mood. The doc spends more time than usual poking at a particular corner and gets a bit of verbal prodding by the hygenist (check there, yes, just a bit to the right) for a few minutes before he decides that I’m good to go. You’re kidding me… why would you write something down where I can see it? especially if it turns out to be nothing?
I like my dentist, so it isn’t anything personal but I still hate going to see him.
