I took the last few hours off of work today so that I could go see the dentist. You would think that my teeth are nice and white and clean as I write this, right? Wrong. Instead we ended up at a sales pitch for expensive, not covered by insurance, bullshit procedures that didn't result in us getting our teeth cleaned this afternoon.
The visit started out like any trip to the dentist's office. Some quick paperwork and a few x-rays later and we seemed to be on our way. But then the "hygenist" (I didn't see her clean shit) told me that the doctor would be in to see me in about ten minutes. I knew something wasn't right when she said that.
You would expect that they would start the cleaning like they do at every other dentist I have ever been. Somewhere along the line the dentist would pop in and do a quick look around and joke with you about not flossing. Instead, after ten minutes of me Sports Illustrated, the dentist came in, poked around my mouth, found a couple possibly bogus cavities, tried to sell me on teeth whitening and then disappeared. So I sat and read some more until the office/sales urchin came in and started reviewing pricing with me. This is where it got really weird.
Neither Death? or I have gone to the dentist since moving to California which has been about a year and a half now. So the sales lady told us that we would have to have our teeth cleaned by some special apparatus and it was the only way for them to remove the years of buildup. Of course our insurance covered the running of the machine, but it didn't cover the prescription mix of mouthwash and solution that makes the machine go. It would cost me $80 to have one half of my mouth done on one day, not including the extra $250 for the fancy fillings, and another $80 for the other half on another day (plus even more expensive fillings). It also wasn't possible to have the work done today, we would have to come back later.
Having gone to great dentists all of my life, this was a rude and shocking awakening into the sleeze that is the dentistry profession and neither one of us appreciated it one bit. What should have been a free exam and cleaning turned into two more visits to this douchebag and $160-$500 worth of work that supposedly needs to be done. So we left in a pissed off huff, still with dirty teeth, feeling all slimey like you do when you talk to a used car salesman, with a grudge against Jack I Lee, DDS of Ventura, California.
The visit started out like any trip to the dentist's office. Some quick paperwork and a few x-rays later and we seemed to be on our way. But then the "hygenist" (I didn't see her clean shit) told me that the doctor would be in to see me in about ten minutes. I knew something wasn't right when she said that.
You would expect that they would start the cleaning like they do at every other dentist I have ever been. Somewhere along the line the dentist would pop in and do a quick look around and joke with you about not flossing. Instead, after ten minutes of me Sports Illustrated, the dentist came in, poked around my mouth, found a couple possibly bogus cavities, tried to sell me on teeth whitening and then disappeared. So I sat and read some more until the office/sales urchin came in and started reviewing pricing with me. This is where it got really weird.
Neither Death? or I have gone to the dentist since moving to California which has been about a year and a half now. So the sales lady told us that we would have to have our teeth cleaned by some special apparatus and it was the only way for them to remove the years of buildup. Of course our insurance covered the running of the machine, but it didn't cover the prescription mix of mouthwash and solution that makes the machine go. It would cost me $80 to have one half of my mouth done on one day, not including the extra $250 for the fancy fillings, and another $80 for the other half on another day (plus even more expensive fillings). It also wasn't possible to have the work done today, we would have to come back later.
Having gone to great dentists all of my life, this was a rude and shocking awakening into the sleeze that is the dentistry profession and neither one of us appreciated it one bit. What should have been a free exam and cleaning turned into two more visits to this douchebag and $160-$500 worth of work that supposedly needs to be done. So we left in a pissed off huff, still with dirty teeth, feeling all slimey like you do when you talk to a used car salesman, with a grudge against Jack I Lee, DDS of Ventura, California.
3 comments:
That's bullshit. It's an excuse for laziness and to milk both you and your insurance. I returned to the dentist a year and a half ago after FIVE YEARS without seeing one. They cleaned them just like normal dentists do.
I'd find a way to lodge a complaint with your insurance company. If they start an investigation, maybe you can get some recompense from the dentist.
That's ridiculous. When we lived in LA, it took almost three years to find a good dentist, and then we moved.
He's in Pasadena, and he's awesome. His name is Johnston Chu and he is excellent. He'll talk about teeth whitening, of course, but he's also very conscientious, and made appointments at 7 PM for me to accommodate my schedule.
It's funny because the so-called "great" dentists that you used to see in WA always left me with the same slimey feeling. Of course, I've had a lot more experience with them since I have Dad's teeth; the amount we paid for the tiny bit of metal in my mouth could have bought a car made of the same material. Oh, to be a dentist.
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