I have a story to tell.
I've been searching for a new dentist for some time now. I'm a baby when it comes to dental work. I don't mind the cleanings, but am always thankful when the dental exam ends in my favor (ie. looks good, see you in six months). The last tooth I had fixed was a pretty rough experience. I had a hard time numbing, meaning that he'd start to drill and it would hurt so he'd give me another shot, wait for it to take effect, start to drill again, and repeat the hurting and additional shot. By then, maybe he was running behind schedule or perhaps he's always that rough, but it wasn't fun. I continued to go to his office for another year or so, praying that I wouldn't need anything fixed. Knowing that sooner or later I would need additional work (due to a mouth full of silver fillings), I decided I'd better find another dentist
before I needed more work done.
Well, Monday, I had a tooth break.
It was time to try another dentist.
For the past several months, whenever I received flyers in the mail for dentists, I'd look at them, and if the dentist looked nice, I'd put it in a file. So, Monday I pulled out the file. I had 2 for one dentist and 1 for another. So, I made sure the first one was on my insurance, and then I called and quizzed the receptionist about what kind of dentist he was. When I was satisfied,
I made an appointment.
So, that's how I chose him, and thankfully, it was a great experience! Yeah! I have a new dentist!
However, during the exam, he found that the last tooth I had fixed, a partial crown, has chipped, and needs to be fixed. He would be happy to do it and they checked on how much it would cost me. Thankfully our insurance covers 80%. But he also suggested that it could be under warranty by the dentist that did the work originally, and I might want to check on that.
As much as I didn’t want to go back to that dentist, the possibility of him fixing it for free seemed worth checking into. Well, visiting his office was awkward. In the end, he said he would fix it for half of what I was originally charged, partly because it’s almost four years old, and partly because I’m no longer his patient. He asked why I changed and I told him. Uncomfortable, but he asked. Now I need a fun crown, and he’ll bill the insurance and take the 80% if they’ll cover it, or I’ll owe $350 if they won’t.
I’ve decided that I’d rather pay $180 to the dentist I like, and know that I’ll have a better experience. I’m wondering why I even considered going back to the original dentist, when the reason I changed dentists was because I was afraid of having him work
on my teeth again.
So that’s my story, and I think it’s worth sharing. The moral of this story is, make your kids brush their teeth everyday so that when they are older they won’t have a story like mine to tell.
