I have to say I am so very mad right now! What is it with the medical – or in this case dental – industry? Whatever happened to doctors (and dentists) who actually treat the patient like a person and not an assembly line to get them out as soon as possible to move on to the next one?
Yesterday Princess Nagger was scheduled to have 5 (yes, five, poor thing) baby teeth extracted since they seem to be holding on for dear life in spite of the fact that her adult teeth have grown in around them (at least on three of them – no clue on the other two).
Keep in mind these are baby teeth, and three out of the five are so loose I’m tempted to yank them out myself, but Princess Nagger is allergic to pain.
Aren’t we all?
Anyway, her appointment was at 10:40 a.m., we arrived at 10:35 and proceeded to sit and cool our heels in the waiting room for about 35 minutes before I finally went up to the front desk to ask how much longer, and if the dentist was running behind.
The gal at the front desk confirmed the obvious that the dentist was running behind, as well as mentioned he was short handed that day and waiting for another dentist to arrive to take on the overflow of his already booked schedule.
Alrighty then.
We finally got called back about 45 minutes after the appointment time (which, by that time Princess Nagger had already gotten herself worked up in anticipation of the impending pain she was sure she was going to experience), so I mentioned to the dental assistant (who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else but here) that we’d probably need laughing gas in order to make sure Princess Nagger stayed calm during the extractions.
We also figured the extractions themselves wouldn’t take that long, because of the fact that they’re all stubborn baby teeth, and 60% of them were so very ready to fall out, those would probably take milliseconds.
The dental assistant hooked Princess Nagger up with the neon pink ‘elephant nose’ and started the pure oxygen. After a few minutes she was going to switch over to the laughing gas, but the dentist popped in and told her to run the oxygen for 5 full minutes before switching over, to make sure she’s saturated with oxygen first.
She ran the oxygen for longer than 5 minutes before finally switching over. I asked Princess Nagger if she was feeling ‘floaty’ yet, she responded with an emphatic ‘NO’, that she still felt the same. I told her to breathe in deep through her nose (I noticed she was breathing through her mouth instead – sort of defeats the purpose of having the ‘elephant nose’ on her face).
Moments later the dentist came in and said not one word to either Princess Nagger or me – grabbed one of those long Q-tip things with the numbing agent and started rubbing Princess Nagger’s gums like he was in a hurry. She complained that it hurt, because she was assuming he was going straight to extractions and her brain was giving her mixed signals.
Instead of the dentist doing his job and calming his patient down, he ignored her, until I said something about him just using the cotton swab thingy to get her gums ready for the needle so she can be numbed up and get the extractions over with.
You could tell by his body language and demeanor and method of swabbing that he was in a big hurry.
That also proved to be true when he grabbed the needle injector-thingy to numb her gums – he didn’t say anything to her at all, didn’t give her any warning, just jabbed the needle into her gum. Naturally she let out one loud yowl.
I probably would have, too.
You’d think the dentist was dealing with a mouth full of dinosaur teeth:
The dentist recoiled, pulled the needle injector out and tossed it onto the tray saying “She needs to go to the oral surgeon so they can knock her out” and immediately left the room.
WTF? He basically bailed on her and didn’t even try to listen when I said she’d had no problem with previous extractions on laughing gas in the past but needs an extra dose like I do because she metabolizes that stuff super fast.
I didn’t even complete my sentence before he was already gone and the dental assistant was switching the gas over to oxygen to clear out what minimal gas there was in Princess Nagger’s system.
I’m fit to be tied because there was no discussion, no suggestions, no nothing – just this dentist pretty much ‘writing off’ Princess Nagger for these extractions because he didn’t want to slow down a heartbeat and make her feel comfortable.
Even Steve Martin as a dentist in Little Shop of Horrors would have been preferable:
At least there would have been crazed singing, right?
We waited at the front desk while the gal behind the counter ran the insurance information to give us a quote on how much it will cost to have it done by an oral surgeon before we would decide on scheduling an appointment or not.
I knew it was going to be pricey, but when she showed me the page my eyes first went to the initial cost of $3279.00 to have teeth pulled, with our out-of-pocket expense being $696.00 – I literally laughed out loud at the gal and said “Yeah, not gonna happen” and walked out.
Seriously?! Of course the biggest expense is the anesthesia – which Princess Nagger does not need. She does, however, need a dentist who will actually talk to her when she’s in the chair, let her know what he’s going to do (like the dentist I had as a kid, and even the dentist we had in PA) rather than someone who is obviously in a hurry and doesn’t care about the person sitting in the chair, just concerned about getting the work done and moving on to the next poor toothy soul.
So f*ck it. They can work around the damn baby teeth with the braces until they pop out on their own. Because they will at some point – they’re baby teeth. They’re loose baby teeth.
I’m not paying almost $700 to have The Nag knocked out so someone can pluck them from her gums in 2.9 seconds. I’ve got needle-nose pliers that can do the job for free. (evil grin!)
<end rant>
How about a funny?
It’s time once again for Leslie’s (aka Rory Bore) Tuesday Chat!
This week’s prompt or question is:
“The long work day is done, you arrive home and the first thing you do…?”
This one’s a tough one for me, since I don’t work outside the home. Essentially I’m ‘working’ 24/7, so I don’t ever get an end of a long work day. Ahem.
But once-upon-a-time pre-kids, I was a card carrying member in Corporate America and worked some pretty long days. First thing I’d do when I got home was kick off my shoes and pet the dog:
Sometimes I’d pour a glass of wine, or crack open an ice cold beer (depending on my mood and what I’d be making for dinner), whip up a quick dinner and catch up on some of my favorite shows while I ate.
I know, real exciting times those were.
When the hubby and I were dating and before Princess Nagger came along, the routine was pretty much the same – only now it included an extra plate/person for dinner plans, but we’d hang out and watch our favorite shows then spend some time on our individual computers before calling it a night.
Exciting? No so much. Relaxing? Most definitely! And things really haven’t changed aside from now my usual day-to-day ‘to do’ list has been multiplied by four (and some days it feels like it’s been multiplied by four-thousand.)
But I’m OK with that.
And wine usually helps on really long stressful days. Like a day at the evil dentist office. Just sayin’.
That’s a wrap for this week – you know the drill, link up and join in the fun, everyone is welcome, random or not. And that means even if you don’t have a specific Random Tuesday Thoughts Rebel post posted, you can still link up, I’m not picky. You don’t even have to add the badge, just link up so I can come harass you on your blog. I promise to play nice.
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Link up your Random (or not) here:
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Keeping the random alive (barely) – feel free to snag a badge and play along – one for my wino friends:
And one for my non-wino friends:
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I can’t believe that dentist! The nerve! You shouldn’t have had to pay anything for that visit, and I would file a complaint with your state board of medical licensing. There’s just no excuse for rude behavior, and that was pretty darn rude!
Oh I am mad for you and frustrated for your daughter to have to go that. It should have been a simple office visit. Clearly that office is fit to function with society. I am so sorry you ladies had to endure that.
I do have to say, you found humor in how you shared which is always the key!
Thoughts on a new dentist maybe?
and that is exactly why I still carry a very unadult like fear of dentists!! I just hate the idea of fingers cramming into my mouth and if they were in a hurry too… I’d probably bolt from the chair. I have tooth that needs help and I am procrastinating as long as I can and I hubby is like – just go already. and I’m like – No, he’s gonna yell at me. ha
It’s funny how different my end day is as a mom/wife, as to what it was when I was single. Now I am stuck at home pretty much every evening because I have young kids to get to bed, and a hubby often working nights. But back then, it was get home, eat, change – and often go back out again. Funny how wine is still there though right? 🙂
Oh dear!Our five baby teeth extraction was nothing like that. (I say this just to restore your faith in humanity and dentistry)
Did she eat the carmel candy at halloween? My son needs 1 pulled, I keep telling him to wiggle it, but he’s 16 it’s not moving. I’d be doing one of those rate my dentist sites?