I used to think this Steve Martin character was 
funny albeit disturbing. But now I feel it is more a reality than I am willing to admit.
We have been through 5 dentists since moving here. The first dentist was from Mexico and was really nice. He even called me "Mi-ja". Well actually he said that every 2 seconds and it got real annoying. But I was willing to look past that until I had a really bad tooth. He told me it had a really big cavity and we should just pull it out. Huh? I thought dentist had sworn an oath to protect teeth at all costs. Needless to say, after having a root canal and Dr. Mijo putting a crown on that he did a really bad job doing. He then again reccommended me just getting that tooth pulled. I finally saw the red flags and went to another dentist.
Meanwhile my kids needed their teeth looked at so I went to dentist #2. This was one of those dental clinics with lots of dentists. It was called Gentle Dental and the irony of that just kills me. They bring Jacob in, strap him down to a board, claim he has a million cavities and start draining my wallet all within about 10 minutes. The board was a magic surf board or blanket they claimed but I have a hard time calling the screaming "magical".
I was starting to feel like one of those women who only dates losers and abusers. You start to wonder do I attract these losers because I'm an idiot or completely unlucky.
After such pleasant experiences I said "Contracted providers I hate you. I am going off the golden list and finding someone good. " Well, I did find someone good but I quickly began to run out of money especially since Dave had like 3 crowns done.
Dentist number 4 was/is great. The ladies at the office remember me. They take care of my teeth. They bill me after the service is done instead of asking for all the money up front. They actually care about me and my family and they are in the golden network. Yeah! As nothing is as great as it seems-he doesn't do little kids like Ari.
Dentist 5 was an attempt to get Ari's large whole fixed. They have all appearances of being child friendly. Large waiting room with video games and toys. They bring her in and the dr spends about 1 minute looking in her mouth. No x-rays, no poking with the sharp stick. The conclusion is she has at least 7 cavities and "probably more" when they actually do the xrays. They then send me to the treatment coordinator. She tells me that if I pay 600 extra she will guarantee that the payment will not be more the 1500. I go home to think things over and decide to schedule as no other alternative seems available. We call to schedule but no she said it will take 4-6 weeks to process paperwork. Then finally the paperwork is processed and she can now get Ari an appt. in June. " You tell me my kids teeth are rotting out of her mouth and then you take nearly six months to do something about it!" I finally got it and I am dumping this sorry office.
So today I am off to dentist #6. Wish me luck!
funny albeit disturbing. But now I feel it is more a reality than I am willing to admit.We have been through 5 dentists since moving here. The first dentist was from Mexico and was really nice. He even called me "Mi-ja". Well actually he said that every 2 seconds and it got real annoying. But I was willing to look past that until I had a really bad tooth. He told me it had a really big cavity and we should just pull it out. Huh? I thought dentist had sworn an oath to protect teeth at all costs. Needless to say, after having a root canal and Dr. Mijo putting a crown on that he did a really bad job doing. He then again reccommended me just getting that tooth pulled. I finally saw the red flags and went to another dentist.
Meanwhile my kids needed their teeth looked at so I went to dentist #2. This was one of those dental clinics with lots of dentists. It was called Gentle Dental and the irony of that just kills me. They bring Jacob in, strap him down to a board, claim he has a million cavities and start draining my wallet all within about 10 minutes. The board was a magic surf board or blanket they claimed but I have a hard time calling the screaming "magical".
I was starting to feel like one of those women who only dates losers and abusers. You start to wonder do I attract these losers because I'm an idiot or completely unlucky.
After such pleasant experiences I said "Contracted providers I hate you. I am going off the golden list and finding someone good. " Well, I did find someone good but I quickly began to run out of money especially since Dave had like 3 crowns done.
Dentist number 4 was/is great. The ladies at the office remember me. They take care of my teeth. They bill me after the service is done instead of asking for all the money up front. They actually care about me and my family and they are in the golden network. Yeah! As nothing is as great as it seems-he doesn't do little kids like Ari.
Dentist 5 was an attempt to get Ari's large whole fixed. They have all appearances of being child friendly. Large waiting room with video games and toys. They bring her in and the dr spends about 1 minute looking in her mouth. No x-rays, no poking with the sharp stick. The conclusion is she has at least 7 cavities and "probably more" when they actually do the xrays. They then send me to the treatment coordinator. She tells me that if I pay 600 extra she will guarantee that the payment will not be more the 1500. I go home to think things over and decide to schedule as no other alternative seems available. We call to schedule but no she said it will take 4-6 weeks to process paperwork. Then finally the paperwork is processed and she can now get Ari an appt. in June. " You tell me my kids teeth are rotting out of her mouth and then you take nearly six months to do something about it!" I finally got it and I am dumping this sorry office.
So today I am off to dentist #6. Wish me luck!
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