Murf's Trip to the Dentist

I'm pretty prompt in my visit to my dentist every 6 months. I attribute that fact to having to make the next appointment when I'm there. The dentist that I had been seeing for most of my life retired a couple of years ago and his patients were passed on to his officemate. My original dentist was really odd and his oddness and the fact that he rarely blinked and had protruding nose hair made me quite diligent in brushing and to a lesser extent, flossing but thankfully he always had a hygienist do most of the work while he did the routine checking in the last 5 minutes.

His replacement, Dr. B is oh so much nicer. His hygienist has actually been there ever since Dr. R retired which is unusual for me. Dr. R's hygienist seem to leave every 6 months. I think I only had a repeat once during my 20+ years of seeing him. I guess I wasn't the only one that found him odd. The problem I have is that Dr. B's wife is the receptionist and whenever I've had to call to cancel and reschedule, never has she picked up the phone. When I've left messages to reschedule, rarely has she called back within that same week. Now, the one dental assistant that I've known most of my life that stayed on with Dr. B has left and she is now her husband's helper along with being the receptionist so any chance of getting her when I call is closer to none than slim. Her incompetency was solidified earlier this week when I received a statement from the dental company in which it looked exactly like their bill for something called an occlusal guard. I called the office and of course had to leave a message. I call the dental company to let them know that it looks like I received a bill for a procedure that I didn't have done. While on hold as they looked into it, I realized that this was the estimate of a mouthpiece to wear at night to help my so-called teeth grinding which we had talked about 6 MONTHS AGO. The dental company stated the same thing so I was left apologizing for taking up their time and had to call the office and leave yet another message to disregard the first one. The price for a custom-made mouthpiece: $600 with the insurance company covering only $95. I don't have a spare $505 laying around so it looks like my $20 over-the-counter one will have to do...or so I thought.

As of January 1st, my employer's dental plan will change to a different company so while this was changing, I was contemplating finding someone that's "in network" and perhaps with an office that was a bit more easily accessible but I really like Dr. B so I was still hemming and hawing...until today's visit.

Dr. B's office is in the middle of the city in which parking on the street is hard to find so one usually heads to the nearby structure. I'm use to this after all these years and unlike Dr. R, Dr. B validates parking but lately the people hanging out in this area has be come less desirable with a huge jump in panhandling. Today it wasn't so bad since it was all of 32 degrees out but today I had another problem: idiots in the parking structure.

I was following behind this car when she suddenly came to a screeching halt when she noticed that a car was about to back out. The problem was that she was completely perpendicular with the car backing out and she expected me to back up. At first I ignored her back up lights. Then I ignored her honks. Then when she motioned at me to back up, I waved back. She was also stopped in the middle of the aisle so I couldn't pass her so then I got ticked. If that was me, I would curse my luck and keep driving. What made her so special that she demanded me to back up? I eventually backed up about half a car length while talking to her loudly from the driver's seat (here's hoping she was a lip reader). Not cursing, mind you. That would be unladylike. Instead, I invoked the spirit of my father and younger brother and did things like wave at her as I finally passed her as she attempted to pull into that spot and question her selfishness and other passive aggressive things like that.

I continue on to find a decent spot 1 floor above her and near the elevator. I then head to the dentist's office in a somewhat of a foul mood now. I arrive and wait for a few minutes for the guy in front of me to finish up (he was an older man with a delightful accent that brought me out of my funk. I'd guess German). I then go in and have a lovely time with the hygienist who said I was one of her star pupils since there was little tartar build up...and then it happens. The sign I had been waiting for to switch dentists is given.

Dr. B comes in for the last 5 minutes and checks the status of the fillings I have and of course comments on the wear of my teeth. 6 months ago I mentioned that I was trying an over-the-counter mouthpiece and he seemed fine with that and even invited me to come in with it if I need any adjustments made to it. This time, however, he wasn't quite in that same mood. When I mentioned that I hadn't slept in it for awhile because it is much more comfortable to sleep without a mouth full of hard wax, he gave me the sarcastic "It will also be easier to sleep when you wear down all your teeth and have none". He then goes on to compliment me on the whiteness of my teeth and the lack of any sign of decay...and then sets me up for my next appointment in June to include having an impression made of my mouth for this custom-made mouthpiece. Whoa! Hold it a minute. I did say that I would prefer to stick with the over-the-counter mouthpiece and wearing it more often and perhaps checking on the status of my teeth in 6 months but was I now expected to be more verbally assertive and actually admit out loud that I don't have an extra $505 just laying around for a customized mouthpiece? As any of my friends will tell you, I don't complain much. I've never been one to bemoan things out loud. I've always dealt with things on my own and things have always turned out better eventually. I know this time of one small income is only temporary as we head on to bigger and better things but I will be damned if I'm going to admit to people that I see 2 times a year that I don't have money for something...well, other than saying something to that effect just now in this blog entry but that's not the same thing. Sure, I could suck it up and not say it and just use my Visa but I don't view this custom-made mouthpiece as a necessity when I have a perfectly good one that I should just try wearing more and must be better than nothing.

I decide that that was the sign that I needed and did not become more assertive (no surprise there) and as I was getting my parking ticket validated and my now not applicable appointment card updated, Dr. B's wife comes out and says that since my dental insurance company will be changing on January 1st, the estimate that I received will no longer be correct. She then asked which dental plan I have. I have the basic (2 cleanings a year, 1 x-ray every year) which she then said, "Oh...well none of it will be covered then." I wanted to respond that if I had gotten this estimate in time, I could've switched my coverage during our yearly open enrollment period when you can make such changes but by this time, I was mentally already deciding on my next dentist.

Despite this odd turn of events, it was a bit sad to wish them all happy holidays and know that as the door closed, I would never see them or this office that has so much history again.