Ok I have to admit 1st that I am one of those flaky dental patients that keeps switching dentists. I'm sure I'm the one with the problem, not them. Doesn't it just drive you NUTS when from the moment you get in it is all just a big sales pitch?!! Fancy new toothbrush for just $89 or 1 hour whitening for $400 or we can make them look pretty with Invisalign for just $5000?!!!!

EEEEEEEEEUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAADDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!! !

I hate the dentist. I haven't even mentioned te part about feeling anxious and vulnerable with someone working in my mouth.

My dentist actually said this to me: You could be pretty if we just straighten these teeth!

I get so nervous and worked up before I go I just cant think straight! OK, so can you tell I am going today?!!

I think what makes me crazy is that it used to be about dental health, and somewhere along the line things changed to cosmetic being most imortant. So I feel like dentists have this really big conflict of interest. People come to them for healthy teeth and gums and dentists know they can get more $$ from cosmetic procedures, so therefore...

Thanks for listening. I feel better now!

I had the same problem as you until I told my dentist how I felt and it was a huge ice-breaker and he understood where I was coming from. I did not go to a dentist for awhile from the fear of have someone messing in my mouth!! Then when I finally did go I landed my butt in the chair of a perv.!! So, I found a really great dentist and he and his staff understood I was terrified and after our chat it was no big deal. Keep looking for a great dentist I promise you they are out there.

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Vicki


TLJ Women united in Spirit!

The "perv" comment reminded me. I've been to one of them too. He was filling a cavity and kept looking down the hygenists shirt. Of course she had her shirt way unbuttoned, big cleavage, and a super-dooper push up bra that made them almost hit her chin. I almost forgot about that. It was like a scene from a bad music video!

I have been very lucky-- I had the same dentist from the time I was a toddler until I was 18. (He was a very good friend of my Mom's, and was a pediatric dentist. He continued to see my and my sister up until the day she got married! LOL)

Then I moved here, and found a wonderful dentist that I've been seeing for 14 years. He is awesome.

Holly

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Forgiveness is love in its most noble form. -Anonymous

Dontcha just love those dentist!! I wnat to go to a female dentist where all the dentist hygentist are male and they wear tight spandex pants!!! NOT!!!

Seriously, I have been to that dentist! And why as a professional who has to lean over and into ppl's faces all day would you wear something like that?? My dentist makes all his hygenist wear scrubs b/c it looks more profesional.

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Vicki


TLJ Women united in Spirit!

I totally understand the stress that you are feeling. I have been to 3 different dentists in the last 3 years and have FINALLY found one that listens to me, doesnt try to sell me everything that isnt nailed down in his office, and will actually offer options about what he can do for my dental care. He even offered and highly suggested that I get dental work done that earned him less money to do then other options. That alone made me feel so much more secure in taking his advice.

I too am afraid of the dentist.... or lets say that I was. I have had 3 root canals, surgery to remove the tip of the root of my tooth to try and save my front tooth. Friday I had to have surgery to remove the tooth and have an implant put in. I am slowly learning to cope. I am going to be going through this implant process for months. Ugh!

You can do it. Tell the dentist what you want, inform him/her that you are nervous and you want to know what he/she does to address that in patients. Also, remember there is no problem with switching dentists if you are not happy. You need to find the one that will take the time to make you comfortable and work with you... no on you.

Good luck
Darlene

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Sell crazy some place else, we are all stocked up here.

I've had bad dentists and bad hygenists. I actuallly had a hygenist slip when she was cleaning my teeth and she cut the roof of my mouth open. That was about 20 years ago and I still have a scar on the roof of my mouth. When I was much younger, about 20, I went to my former dentist complaining that a filling was coming loose. I told him that I could feel it coming off and I had been pushing it back on my tooth. He looked at it and then told me that my filling was fine and wasn't going anywhere - it was my tooth that was the problem. He said that my tooth was deteriorating around the filling. Um, if that was the case, wouldn't that be a problem too? He cleaned my teeth and said nothing else needed to be done, so he sent me on my way. Basically, he made me feel like I was just crazy because I kept insisting there was still a problem. The very next day my filling came all the way out! I called and called his office and all I could get was a recording. Turns out that they closed for the weekend at noon on Thursdays and weren't open at all on Fridays. I don't know what happened to that dentist because I never went back to see him, but I know that he hasn't been practicing around here for a very long time.

I avoided going to the dentist for years after my filling fell out because the thought of it literally made me sick to my stomach and made my heart feel like it was going to come out of my chest. Unfortunately, I waited until I was in so much pain with that same tooth that I just couldn't stand it anymore. Finally, a co-worker recommended her dentist. He's awesome! I've been going to him now for about 11 years. I even have DH and my mom seeing him too and they both love him as well. Although there are several hygenists at the office, we all see the same one and we see her every single visit (she also wears scrubs). She always remembers little details about what we talked about six months earlier and asks us how we are doing and how our baby is. They are all really great at that office and even though it took me a while to get over my bad experiences, I no longer have any apprehension at all when I have to go to the dentist. I've never waited for more than 2-3 minutes in the waiting room - most of the time I go straight back as soon as I walk in the door. My dentist also put his cell and home phone numbers on his business/appointment cards and I actually had an emergency once and had to call him at home one night. He opened his office early the next morning to fit me in. Did I mention that he's great? Oh, and they never try to sell us anything, but they often have coupons for dental products (toothpaste, mouth wash, floss, toothbrushes) at the counter that we can take if we want.

Just ask as many people as you can who their dentist is, how long they've been going there, wheather they like him or her, and if they give you big sales pitches.

My dentist is great. I've been going to him for about two years now. I've never gotten a sales pitch about anything from him. He's very free with the novacaine, too. I like that!!!

I would ask friends who they go to, and ask if they like their dentist. Then, maybe try that dentist???

Good Luck.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I am lucky...we love our dentist. They are so friendly and remember us every time we come to visit. They are always asking details about our lives that they remember from previous conversations. My boys get so excited when I tell them they are going to see the dentist. My younger one actually gets mad (he is 6 y/o) if his big brothers get to go to the dentist and he doesn't. He will pout that it isn't his turn to see the dentist yet.....doesn't matter that he saw him just 2 weeks ago...ha ha. He is always ready to go. The denist had to fill one of his baby teeth and he never flinched. He came out of there just as happy as could be and ready to go back to see the dentist again. I feel blessed to have such a wonderful dentist for my kids.

I feel your pain!! I went to a dentist on my "plan" and she told me that basically I needed EVERY cavity in my mouth replace. They all need to be white because my plan paid for it. She would knock off a $100 on the teeth whitening if I wanted it too. Plus did you know that there a different levels of cleaning your teeth??? I had to get level 2 but it seemed like 3 because 1 is covered on my plan and the others are not! Level 3 is a deep cleaning below the gums and 2 is some where inbetween which I got last time I went which hurt and I let the hygentist know. By the way the last time I got my teeth cleaned 6 months ago I was told how clean they where! What happen in 6 months?? Then the cleaning and seeing the dentist a not done together....so you have to wait and wait....my dental visit was almost 2 hours long.(I don't even think I waited at the OB/GYN for 2 hours) I really need to find another dentist.

I just recently switched dentists because the one we went to was hard to get into and we actually lost confidence in him. It would 3-4 visits of 2-3 hours a piece to do a root canal. The lsat time I was there he tried to pull a tooth and after two hours of trying and him breaking the tooth off at the roots I had to go to a oral surgeon to dig the roots out cost me mega bucks thats for sure. You could never get a cleaning appointment either or you would get one and they would cancel it.

I love my new dentist she is awesome, she sent me to a endodontist to have my root canal done and it was 1 hour start to finish for the root canal and it took 3 visits the first I got a temp filling, second got a temp crown and today I just got my permanent crown done so total with root canal four visits of maybe a total of 2-3 hours tops and my crown looks awesome.

Their hygeinist is awesome too my DS went for his first visit and she explained everything to him and he saw the dentist he goes back for a small cavity to be bonded and for sealant of his permanent teeth and they are great with kids.

DH broke a tooth over the weekend called the old dentist and they cant get him in for 3 weeks, by that time he could be infected badly like last time, called my dentist he can get in Tuesday unless they have a cancellation and then sooner and she called antibiotics in for him, so DH is going to the wonderful dentist I found.

If you dont feel confident in your dentist or even a Doctor by all means change and even let them know why you did and even tell the insurance company especially if its a really bad xperience.

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~ Christine ~
Grammie to Trinity Lorayne Jean Keens Born June 9, 2011 Loving my awesome guitar picking 100% Country Boy boyfriend Kenny !
RIP Daddy~ 01/24/1930-06/01/2007 I miss you !
Dont Think you Can .. know you can ~ Jeff Hardy

I'm with you, OP. I just about get a new dentist every year. If I found a good one I would stick with them.

I have one slightly crooked tooth and have had lost of people assume that I've had braces. My last dentist was hell bent on referring me for braces for this one tooth!

I liked our current dentist at first. It's a new practice. Lately we wait forever and they are scheduling cleanings many many months out. There is one dentist in the officer and they triple book, so we all get to cool our heels while he pops back and forth between patients. DS had a filling a couple of weeks ago and was there almost 3 hours! He said they gave him the novacaine shot, went to work on someone else and didn't come back until the shot was wearing off!

I miss the small town destist I grew up seeing. I actually inquired a few year ago about having my silver childhood fillings replaced with white and was told that they were great quality and should not be tampered with!

Seems a good dentist is hard to find. We had a dentist who was big on wanting to replace all our fillings when our fillings were just fine, thank you. then we had a guy who was good but he just didn't have the personality to work with kids. then we had a great dentist who decided to retire about a year after we started seeing him. We started going to his partner who is such a cocky bird. He struts around the office like a big peacock. Fortunately a female dentist joined the practice and we will only see her now. I won't be too surprised if she leaves - working with him would drive me nuts.

As for the hygienist with the major boobage -- I'd bet money she was fooling around with the dentist.

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Cecilia

"We must love them both--those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject. For both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in the finding of it."
Saint Thomas Aquinas

I, too, am one of the ones that flips dentists like changing underwear.

2 dentists in recent months stand out most in my mind... one was a general dentist and the other a "professional" (oral surgeon).

I have a fully grown impacted eyetooth. the roots (which normally are long) are wrapped around the bone that separates my nose from my eye socket, and the tooth is in the roof of my mouth.

Ok, the oral surgeon--on a referral--has never seen me before, has no medical knowledge of me, etc...sees the xray and says he will completely sedate me (put me under) and remove the tooth. I let him know he could be the one-man-show by himself! (he claimed to be the anesthesiologist and the surgeon).

the 2nd dentist...a general dentist...

all three of us go in for our cleanings, and me to get a crown put on one of my molars...

sitting in the chair, the dentist is talking to me and he has a heavy European accent...so to make conversation, I asked if he was Russian.

OH BOY!!! WRONG QUESTION!!! He started ranting about how the Russians killed his family and all Russian people are evil and blah, blah, blah...

now this dude has all these sharp instruments, I am in the chair and he is over me all pissed off! (great!!). My husband is in the chair in the next cubbie hole listening!

I tried to tell him that it is not the fault of ALL Russian people that his family was killed, etc, and he said (and I quote) "Anyone who thinks Russian people are not criminals must be one and I would kill them first".

(side note: my DH is Russian!!)

Needless to say, that was the end of that visit--I sent a letter to the state board regarding this dentist and then followed up with several phone calls to the state licensure board until something was done----the dentist has since closed up shop and moved to God knows where.



We now have a decent dentist across town and have had no problems.

It does make you leary and untrusting, and can totally sympathize with the OP.

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SPJRNTGADL!