I hate the dentist.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I feel that I can properly rant about the bullshit that occurred this past Saturday.
Before I get into that, here is what happened last year:
Towards the end of March I knew I needed to make an appointment to see the dentist (it had been AGES since I had seen one). Having Denti-Cal, it makes it really hard to find somebody who is accepting new patients with that insurance. I don’t feel like going to the ghetto nor do I feel like going to some shady place.
Since my Mom has the same dental insurance that I do, I gave her a call and she recommended one of the SmileCare locations she had been to. My Mom has a lot of health issues and unfortunately they took a toll on her teeth. They became really brittle and started to break. Nothing could have been done to preserve them so back in 2003, at the age of 42, she had to have every single one of them removed. It was really hard on her but I distinctly remember her loving her dentist. She said that he was incredibly sweet, understanding, helpful, and that he did a good job. All of those qualities are something that I think all dentists should have, yet they don’t.
I trust my Mom’s judgment so I called them and was seen. The guy I had, Dr G. (an abbreviation of a very long and complicated last name), was hilarious. I had 9 cavities but was told that a good majority of them were little babies, except for 1. I trusted Dr G. when he told me that I could easily have some of them worked on without any numbing, so I did. I had 5 of them worked on and it was a breeze. The sound of the drill didn’t bother me, the pressure didn’t bother me, and he was nice enough to give me the white fillings instead of the metal.
With my anxiety, I knew that the sight of metal fillings would weird me out. Just seeing a permanent change done and with no way of getting rid of it really messes with me. With the white fillings, you see nothing. It looks as if nothing happened, which is just what I like.
After the 5 of them were done I was really light headed so I told him that I could no longer keep going for that day. He was sweet, understanding, and said no problem. Before I left I made an appointment for the following Saturday because I wanted to get it all done with as quickly as possible.
When I went back for my second visit Dr G. was nowhere in sight. The small, yet important to me, detail that him and another dentist switch Saturdays wasn’t told to me. I sat in the chair and all of a sudden this woman comes at me with the swab to numb my gums. I had no idea who she was, she didn’t say anything to me, didn’t introduce herself, and for all I know she could have been an assistant.
She was the dentist.
That immediately made me anxious because I didn’t trust this barbaric woman to get near me. I asked her if I could have a minute and I was very nice about it. Apparently she was on her rag because she answered me with a very bitchy answer, “Fine, I have other patients to attend to.”
I would have appreciated her asking if I was fine, if there was anything wrong, maybe some reassurance… but no. I get mega bitch.
That didn’t settle too well with me and about a minute later some lackey comes and tells me that if I want to make another appointment, I can. It was obvious that the dentist sent her in because she wanted to get rid of me. I said, “fine” and grabbed my things. Before I left I let the front desk know what the dentist did and that I wasn’t happy with it.
A week or two later I got a phone call from them saying how I still had work that needed to be done but I told them about the lady dentist and how I didn’t want to go back. Over the next few months, until July when I changed my phone and the phone number, I would get calls from them trying to get me to make an appointment but I never did.
That brings me to last week. I knew that I needed to get the other ones finished up, especially the big one. I had seen a picture of it and knew that there was no way in hell I could get that done without any Novocaine, but I was afraid of the Novocaine. I’m terribly afraid of needles so the thought of one going into my mouth just freaks me out. Also, I’m afraid of the numb feeling. I know that might seem strange but I’m afraid that when I have the numb feeling I will have a panic attack. It’s hard to explain but unless you who are reading this have had a panic attack, you won’t really understand and that’s fine.
Another thing that kept running through my head was that I had to get it done and taken care of before it turned into a root canal. I might be afraid of needles, but a root canal is like the end of the world for me. I know what happens during those and if I can avoid it, you bet your sweet ass I’m going to.
I knew I had to get in as soon as possible so I went and googled up local dentists who were taking my insurance. Going back to SmileCare wasn’t an option. Many were no longer accepting the insurance (surprise, surprise), many weren’t accepting any new patients with the insurance, many weren’t accepting any adults with the insurance, any many were only children dentists (something that would have been nice to know instead of them being listed as general).
I started to get very frustrated and even wanted to cry because my options were getting to be very limited and I had a gut feeling that I would end up at SmileCare.
Finally, after about 2 hours of calling around, I threw in the towel. I gave them a call and asked if Dr. G was still there. I was told that he was but he wouldn’t be in until the 16th due to him being on his honeymoon. I wasn’t going to hold that against him, and was actually really happy for him because he was a really nice guy. I asked who was working on Saturday and was told some ladies name. First time I did was ask if she was the same devil woman from a year ago. To my delight, I was told that it was a French lady who was really nice and funny.
Nice and funny.
I can deal with nice and funny.
I made the appointment for 1 so that I could have breakfast, have a chance to relax, and just have time to compose myself. Hell, I even took some ibuprofen to help with the inflammation.
At 12:55 I arrive at SmileCare. The lady at the front desk asks me if I have an appointment and I tell her that yes, I do. I give her my name and she pulls up my information. What came out of her mouth pissed me off:
“We no longer accept your insurance.”
Orly???
When I was on the phone making the stupid appointment the lady pulled up my account, and anybody who had the ability to see and read would have CLEARLY seen my insurance information.
Fucking peeved at this point I asked her since when. April 1st of last year was what she told me.
April 1st eh?
I was there in April of last year!!!
I got phone calls for months asking me to return and my insurance information would have came up with my contact information!!!
I asked if there was a supervisor available and, of course, there wasn’t. I wasted 3 business days waiting for that appointment. 3 business days that I could have used making phone calls to find a new dentist.
I fucking hate SmileCare. I fucking hate my insurance. I fucking hate the fact that when I get this god awful tooth worked on that it will be with some random stranger and that I will have to trust them.
I also fucking hate that I can only see the dentist on a Saturday due to Chris and I having 1 car. That limits where I can go and since I need to get in as soon as possible, I will probably go in this Saturday which is my Mom’s birthday.
I won’t have the time now to make a great lunch for her like I planned. I won’t get to EAT a lunch….well, I guess Cream of Wheat technically counts as food, but that’s besides the point
*sigh*
I hate the dentist….
– She Who Has The Last Word
