No, not the novocaine! NOOOOO!!! (How evil is your dentist?)

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve got a shiny new crown today. Look- see it back there? No- waaaaaay back in the back. AAAAHHHHHH. Yep that’s it.

Anyway, let’s talk about dentists. For the longest time I had a dentist who would spray my gums with a topical anesthetic before sticking me with his harpoon. This new dentist must think I’m a big weenie because I asked why he didn’t do the same.

“Bah! You won’t even feel this.” He actually said that with a straight face. Of course I did feel it, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. He pressed his thumb into my gums and apparently that squelched the sensation of any pain from the knitting needle-sized syringe.

Unfortunately, I don’t succumb readily to novocaine, so he had to reload and stick me with an even bigger needle. Even after the 2nd injection I still felt him drilling. It was barely tolerable, but I decided to tough it out rather than ask for a third shot, for which he probably would have used a stainless steel-tipped turkey baster.

What does your dentist do?

My next complaint: The cost of this crown came to $1095.00. My last dentist would have patted me on the head and just sent me home, numb-faced and drooling. Their customary proceedure was to send the insurance company a bill and whatever they didn’t pay would be my responsibility. So maybe a month later, I would get a bill from the dentist saying that insurance paid 80%, and now would I please kindly cough up the balance.

Here’s how my new dentist handled the situation:

As soon as it was obvious that a crown was needed (he had already drilled deeply enough to see that a simple filling wouldn’t suffice), he put his tools down on my chest (on that little drool bib) and asked if he could see my insurance card! :confused:

So I fumbled around in my back pocket (no easy task when you’re lying in that chair with a battery of sharp poking instruments on your chest) and managed to get my wallet out. After pulling out every single card, located my DMO card and handed it to him. He looked at it, furrowed his brow, and said “Your part is going to be $495.00- is that okay?”

Now remember the situation: I am confined to an iron maiden-style dental examination chair with tubes draped over me, trying to balance the sharp picks sitting on my drool bib, a freshly-drilled hole in my molar, half of my face is half-numb and there is this suction device in my mouth going SSSSSSPHPHphhhhhhxxxckkkssBBBLSSSpppppsssssshhhhckkkssssPLBTHtsss trying to such up every molecule of saliva that my mouth tries to manufacture.

And in this position am I supposed to say no, $495.00 is not okay??

But this story has a happy ending right? Oh please try not to be such a knucklehead, no there is no happy ending.

I was finally released from the chair, and shown to the billing coordinator. HUH?? Billing coordinator? She looked at me, glanced down at my chart and said “$495.00, please.” She said that with a straight face, too. I think all medical professionals have to take a course in college that teaches them how to say ridiculous things to their patients without laughing.

The right half of my face showed my natural reaction of shock and horror (the left side, still under the influence of the novocaine, just continued to hang freely off the edge of my jawbone, swaying in the breeze). Does she expect me to fish out $500 from my wallet? Do people normally carry around hundreds of dollars of “just in case I get a crown today” money?

I told her what I was accustomed to from my previous dentist (bill the insurance company and then I’ll fork over whatever they don’t pay), and she eyed me suspiciously as if I was going to suddenly try to make a break for the door.

She explained how they already knew what the insurance would pay, and that they fully expected me to come up with the balance right now. I had visions of them dragging me back to the Chair of Delight and undoing all of the work they just did, so I gave in and handed over my check card.

Of course by now, the religious people of the Straight Dope all know about god’s love of practical jokes. God decided to have my check card declined. Ah, but then I figured it out! There is a daily spending limit of $300.00 on my card! HA! Take THAT, God!

For the balance of $195.00 they were kind enough to let me walk out with only a stern reprimand and promise that I would put a check in the mail as soon as I got home.

It almost makes me want to screw them out of the $195 and change dentists. But I know better. He probably left a little mark on my crown indicating what my balance is, or that I’m a trouble maker when it comes to paying my part of the bill. The next dentist that saw that mark wouldn’t touch me with a ten foot gum probe.

So, how evil is your dentist?

2

my dentist is lovely and wonderful and I cannot say enough good things about her. In fact I’ve referred about half my office to her and they all luv her too. She holds my hand if I get nervous and tells me exactly what she’s doing. She loads me up with topical before giving me any shots. She’s even offered valium (I get realllly scared at the dentist). As long as I keep chipping away at my (large) bill she’s content. I have her home number in case of dental emergency. Why do you give this guy your business? Its unecessary. Vote with your wallet my good friend.

Now, when I recently saw the endodontist they did the same thing as far as billing, insisted I pay, up front, for the portion my insurance wouldn’t cover. Since they saw me with 1 hours notice (My Good Dentist called all around town till she found someone who could see me right away for root canal) and didn’t charge me for “emergency” work, I wasn’t in a a position to complain.

3

Well, my dentist is great. Actually, I have to get a crown on a back molar in a few weeks as the tooth is falling apart, and he’s only charging me $600 (I don’t have dental insurance :frowning: ). Even if I DID have insurance, most dentists I’ve been to request payment from the patient at the time the services are performed and you get reimbursed from your insurance company (or not) later.

It isn’t worth going to a torture fiend dentist - ask your friends, coworkers, etc for a recommendation, or call the local dental society for a referral. I have dental anxiety problems and when I finally found a good dentist, I stuck with him.

–tygre

4

I third or fourth the suggestion to get a new dentist. We have two, one for my husband and me and a pediatric dentist who is great with the kids.

Our dentist always uses a topical anesthetic and frequently checks to make sure everything is okay. His hygenists are also great.

We’ve never been billed on the spot. What their office does is check with the insurance before we have a procedure done and then let us know what the insurance is going to fork over. This takes a while sometimes, but we haven’t had any emergencies.

5

Great OP, Attrayant. Excellent rendition of the saliva-sucking device.

Coincidentally enough, I just got back from my new dentist. I didn’t need any fillings, fortunately - he just poked around, took some x-rays, and told me that I had beautiful fillings. (No, actually, I’m not making that last part up.)

He was quite nice. But he looked at my x-rays and revealed to me that my former orthodontist was even more criminally incompotent than I thought he was. I’ve always known that if my ortho hadn’t tried to get fancy with me, I wouldn’t have needed to spend those FOUR YEARS in braces. (It’s a long story – he tried to move something that wouldn’t move by hooking it onto my braces, but instead all my other teeth moved, so then he had to shift all my other teeth back where they belonged, so I spent twice as long in braces as I needed to.)

Now my dentist shows me that the roots of my upper teeth are really stumpy and small, and that this is the result of extensive orthodontia.

He kindly told me that, if my incisors fall out, I can get implants. I don’t want implants. I want to knock my orthodontist’s teeth out with a ball-peen hammer.

6

I just got a new Dentist since moving to Australia. He is a hundred times better than any dental professional I have ever known in my life.

For one thing, my first Dental Nurse when I was a kid did not use any form of numbing. It was just straight drilling straight into the teeth. That’s just the way it was done then.

My next one up was some kind of madman who didn’t know what the word ‘gentle’ meant. He tended to grasp and force and tear… at least he used needles to numb me sometimes, but that was only sometimes, and it hurt going in!

My next one was a lot better - but he was dull, and actually (it turns out) not very good at his job of filling holes. My fillings tended to fall out.

Since him, four years since seeing him last, I ended up with my current guy who, well, four years of sugar consumption is really bad for anybody, and my teeth were in crappy shape. He was gentle, he used modern equipment, he cut his prices down to make things as easy on me as he could, and he was efficient. He informed me, he explained my options, and though he was siding on the ‘keep me working on your teeth please as you will pay me lots’ aspect, he still was a competent and helpful professional.

Soon, I need an extraction and a root canal. I am not looking forward to these at all, but I need to save up a bit before I can do them. But he’s a cool guy, and his dental nurse is really cute.

7

Attrayant, as a reward for your sterling performance in the “Drop-In Clinic” thread I shall gift you with two words:

“The Wand”

Most of the pain and discomfort that result from novacaine injections are due to overdosage and too fast an injection rate. Overdosing results in all of the (more than normal) slackjaw behavior long after the procedure. Fast injection rates force apart tissues in the jaw and gums incurring great pain.

“The Wand” is a computer controlled solenoid intection system that allows for more precise dosage and almost zero pain. This is not a joke. I have had it at my dentist and I will not patronize an office that does not have one. You will be ever so glad to discover the virtues of this invention.

Again, great job at “The Clinic”, I was in stitches at such a flawless and hilarious hijack. In fact, I will probably have to cite it in a special hijack thread. Keep up the good work.

8

I work for a dentist.

Attrayant? Find a new dentist.

Topical anesthetic is necessary for your comfort, and right there you have convinced me that you need to see someone else. Especially since you ASKED for it and he wouldn’t give it to you. I can’t think of ANY reason not to use it except for being cheap. And topical anesthetic is pretty cheap to buy, so he must be a real tightwad.

And I don’t know where you live, but that fee for a crown sounds way out of line, too.

I could go on and on, but instead I will tell you how to find a good dentist.

Look in the yellow pages under “Dental Laboratories.” Call three labs with “crown” or “crown and bridge” in their name. Ask them for three names of dentists in the area who do quality work. Don’t call any labs with “Prosthodontic” or denture in their name. Then, call three Periodontist’s and ask THEM for three names of dentists who do quality work.

If you don’t live in a huge town, you will most likely get some of the same names on both lists. Call them. but even if you don’t get duplicate names, you will have lots of dentist’s to choose from.

Good luck, and email me if you want any more information. scotticher@earthlink.net

Scotti

9

My ex-dentist was wonderful… I even forgave him for making me give up Coca-cola. The people on his excruciatingly incompetent staff are the reason that he is now my ex-dentist.

I don’t have a problem with shots, I do have a problem with pain… the shot doesn’t hurt (anesthetic or no) the drilling does. A lot. One shot of novacaine isn’t going to do it. It take 3-5 for it to get numb enough to bear the pain…and it always wears off in under a half hour. (Usually, the numbness has faded by the time they’re rinsing my mouth out.) This dentist understood that and was always happy to reshoot me whenever I asked him to. Was as uninvasive as possible. Let me keep my wisdom teeth. I would have loved to have him as a dentist for a long long time.

Then, last summer, I had another filling. As I was leaving I asked “Do I need to pay you now or?” the office worker said “Oh, no, we’ll bill you.” I thought “great,” afer all, she’d photocopied my insurance card. Waited, and never got a bill.

A month later, I got a refusal to pay statement from insurance company A, one I had never heard of, much less given out. She had billed the wrong insurer. I called the company, they said they had no problems with me. I called the dentist’s office, she said “Oh, we’ll get it straightened out - don’t worry.” So I didn’t, despite the fact I had not yet gotten a bill.

Another month passed , I got another refusal to pay form from company A. She’d billed them again. I call the company again (no problem there) I call her again - and she says again it’s all taken care of. I don’t believe her - but well, I figure it’ll be taken care of somehow. Still no bill.

Another month passes - I finally get a form from my insurance company saying that they’ve covered whatever% of the charge they were supposed to. I wait for a bill. Two weeks later, I get a call from my mom saying that she has bill from my dentist, and it says it is 60 days late and mentions something about a collection agency … (my mom’s nosy, caring & concerned, but nosy) what’s going on? and do I need money? I’m shocked as no bill has actually as of yet made it to my apartment. She had pulled my parents name from my emergency contact information & sent them the bill since it had been on the books for so long (I’m guessing, that’s the only way I can think she got their address, that’s the only place they had it.)

I call them on the phone again to find out what happens. This time, she calls me stupid & curses me out over the phone.

But shortly after that, I got a bill. Supposedly it was 90 days overdue (technically it probably was - it had been over 90 days since the work, but still…). Inside the same envelope were two other people’s dentist bills. (One had gotten a crown, the other just a regular checkup and two fillings.)

Perhaps I was supposed to pay them as well as some sort of pennance…

10

I was supposed to get braces when I was 12, but I still had eight baby teeth that had not fallen out yet. They tell me this is uncommon, and being utterly ignorant of dentistry then and now, I’ll take their word for it.

Long story short, I had eight teeth extracted over two consecutive days. The dentist told my parents afterwards that I was so easy to work with he would have done them all at once, but he was concerned that it would be painful for me when I got home. I didn’t care. I’m apparently very susceptible to novocaine, because I didn’t feel anything. And when the dentist inserted the needle, he told me, “Now you’re going to feel a little pinch in your gum.” And that was all it was. The fact that I was so relaxed about it made all the difference, something I lacked in subsequent dental procedures.

I got a crown five years later, under very trying circumstances, that promptly fell out. I have no intention of replacing it. I think my missing tooth lends me character. Besides, if I ever die of misadventure I’ll be real easy to identify by me dental records.

11

I have just fired my dentist, mid-procedure.

Last November, I had to have a root canal. Fine, the insurance paid their portion, I paid mine and life’s happy.

Then, the tooth broke, and I had to go in to get it capped. Fine, I called the dentist’s office, they make an appointment to see me, and I go in. The dentist starts making preparations to crown the tooth.

The assistant person told me my share would be $100 because I had insurance through CWA (Communications Workers of America) because my husband works for US West. I responded that he does not; he works for Unisys. She says, “oh” and goes back to find out how much my part is going to be. Now, keep in mind that the dentist is working as we speak to place this crown. Also keep in mind that last November, when the root canal was done, that he was a participating dentist, but his new office manager has terminated that relationship. She’s also decided that all payment must be made in full at the time the services are rendered. So, this comes to about $400 and change, he won’t seat the crown until that’s paid, and the work’s already half done.

I explained that I was moving out of state, that I didn’t have the $400 to pay them, and asked politely if we could work something out. She said they also take Visa. She also laughed and said that I’d have a hard time finding a dentist who would be willing to finish the crown.

Between the first and second appointments, the temporary crown popped off. While I was brushing my teeth. The thing had been coming loose for days, but the dentist (or his assistant) decided that I could live without the temporary until my second appointment.

Which I cancelled. I explained to the office manager that I felt misled about the relationship with my insurance company, that I should’ve been told that he was no longer a participating provider (which would’ve knocked down my share by half), and that I should’ve been given the option of seeing another dentist. I also told her I felt extorted because the work had already been started when the fee was discussed, and her remark that I wouldn’t be able to find a dentist who would finish the work. I dared her to bill me, telling her that if she did, I’d complain to the insurance company, and to the state dentistry ethics board.

I hate to shaft the dentist out of what he’s already done, but I have no patience for misleading and extortion.

Robin

12

I don’t know why that thought never crossed my mind. It will be a little bit of a pain in the neck to go back into the provider directory to find a participating dentist near a metro stop, not to mention one who doesn’t work out of his garage. Sometimes you can just tell, by looking in the provider directory. For example:

Dr. Q. Paprika
General Psychiatry, Phrenology & Tarot Reader
4236 Hydrogen Sulfide Parkway
Rear Basement Suite #3b
Enter through garage- bang on door HARD (receptionist pretends to be hard of hearing)
Zenster, I will be sure to inquire about this magical wand of which you speak.

MsRobyn, I am with the CWA too! Was that you in the waiting room the other day?

I recently discovered that some people need upwards of a half dozen shots to become fully numb. I was under the impression that there was some upper limit, beyond which too much injected anesthetics like novocaine became dangerous.

So good-bye, Mr. Evil Dentist! I’ll think of you every time I get a toothache or a sore on my gums or a cold sore or an infected pimple or a broken arm or a hernia or if my appendix bursts.

13

My mother took me to the worst dentist in the slums of Boston. I developed a dental phobia that took decades to overcome.

I didn’t see a dentist for about 10 years. I was recommended to a divorce lawyer who was also a dentist, and he did a lot of work. Didn’t like him, but he did good work. Then I left the area, and later had my eight impacted wisdom teeth taken out. Another 10 years past, and I had
to find a dentist.

Praises for Stephanie, who referred me to my current dentist. You only get to him by referrals. He not only does excellent work, but has a wonderful personality. I love going to his office. I still have a total fear of dentists, but I see Dr. Stern twice a year.

14

I no longer take novocaine at the dentist. In my opinion, the shots hurt a great deal more than the drilling.

For some reason, people seem to think I’m insane, but really, I don’t find it all that bad.

15

That’s the thing… she misunderstood me and assumed I had CWA insurance instead of verifying my insurance from my records. They’d billed my insurance last year for the root canal, and had been paid. I’m just pissed that none of this was discussed prior to starting any actual work.

Robin

16

When they have the tooth opened up and are working on it, any change of payment or we won’t finish is forcing a statement under duress. You could have sent them payments, and told them see you in court then.

My regular dentist was willing to make reasonable payment schedules for expensive proceedures. I did talk to them first.

The oral surgeon that removed my wisdom tooth makes it quit clear that payment is due before surgery. You write them the check, and they send you in.

They shot me up with six novicane, and after telling them I could still feel around the extraction area. I recieved three more shots. I then rushed to my local pharmacy to get the codine before the novicane wore off. That was a thirty five minute trip, and then fifteen minutes to get home. I then could take the drugs as the novicane was wearing off.

The best dentists are found by asking coworkers or friends, don’t wait until you have a broken or abcesed tooth.

17

A wise decision, Attrayant. There is no reason to endure a bad dentist, much less an evil one.

Happily, a friend of mine directed me to an excellent dentist. Two root canals and crowns, and I never felt anything except minor jaw cramping (from holding it open for hours at a time). The codeine he prescribed after the first one is still in its little pharmacy bag in the back of my fridge–I never needed it. (Just as well–codeine does very odd things to me… speaking-in-tongues-and-howling-at-the-moon kind of odd.)

18

Well how about that, I was just about to start venting about dentist and here’s one already posted. cool…
BUT BE FOREWARNED: This is not a funny/comical post…
I AM MAD AS HELL

In fact I dont find any of these situations amusing in the least.
I want to know what the hell is going on here!!!
Guess what? Some people don’t have dental insurance and it is getting impossible to obtain it.

I’m fed up with these GD ARROGANT OVERPAID people.
How can they possibly justify $85 -150 for teeth cleaning??
and thats twice a year.
Now suppose there are your average 4 people in this family.
Add that up.
Around here, the GD dentist charge around 1500 Fing dollars for a cap.
Guess who needs 4 of them??? Guess which spouse also needs four of them. Add that Fing up!!!
My previous dentist did not want to do only one cap, NO! hell no, he wanted me to do them all at his office, plus
he “thought it best” to have all my cleanings done there too. He wanted to “set up a plan”, he felt he could only do the work if I agreed that he did all of it. He did not want to see me if I only had one proFingcedure.
None of the other GDFingdentist will take payments.
One ortho who had previously accepted payments for my childrens braces, after he decided something new needed to be done, said I should take out a loan, at what GDFing
kind of interest rate I asked??!!! He gave me the name of a bank.
These GD Fing people are cleaning teeth and filling teeth, not brain/cardiac surgery!!! HELFingLO!! Who put them on this GD Fing pedastal??? I sure as hell didnt.
I’ll tell you who did, the Fing insurance co’s and all
the stupid idiot people who pay their prices.
How do they justify these prices???
I dont care about their fancy dancy new machines that allow
me to look at the inside of my mouth!!! I DONT GIVE A RIPROARING SHIT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!!! Just fix it!!
Nor do I care whether I watch TV while being worked on!!
Nor do I want to pay for there GD toothwhitening experiments…
An XRAY, is really all they need and I dont want to pay for their stupid fancy ass toys!
And guess what!, all you young uns’ out there.
Duh…!!! Dentist used to PULL teeth too, OH f**ing NO!
not any more, you have to see an "Oral Surgeon. That’ll set you back a couple hundred per tooth right there!!!
Well GUESS WHAT??? Iamthisclose to having most all of them pulled, luckily the ones in the front are ok, Just have the damn things pulled, get partials, and no more GD outrageously priced trips to the dentist to pay for his Bahama trips, Lincoln Navigators, and second homes.
Hey, did you notice your dentist usually only works 31/2 days
to 4 days per week… Fancy that!
To hell with all of them
P.S.>>>>
Did they happen to mention that those lovely expensive new caps will probably on last 6-8 years? if you’re lucky,
Then you get to be gouged all over again…

19

When money was tight and I had no health insurance, some few years ago, I visited a discount dentist. That was a mistake.

I should have known when I walked in the door to find several rows of occupied chairs in the middle of the room, most filled, with people looking at a big salt water aquarium.

I should have gotten the hint first because the office was in a strip plaza.

There were 3 dentists, working in rows of half cubicles, with several not real happy looking young female assistants walking around. Ah, so, I surmised looking it over, not only do you get to watch and hear the assorted muffled screams and groans of the other patients, but they get to enjoy yours.

Plus, the dentists were running from patient to patient. Like one dentist would jab a client’s mouth full of pain killer, rip off his gloves, go to the next cubical and drill for oil in that guy’s tooth, then run over to fill a mold with impression material, slap it in some lady’s mouth, impatiently wait a few seconds, rip it out and hop back to the first guy.

Well, I wound up having my teeth scraped and cleaned, a process I’d never had done before, prior (??) to the dentist later pulling out a few and beginning his work. The lady tech, who seemed not really into her work, produced a handful of real damn sharp instruments, told me they might ‘stick a little’ and started demolishing my mouth.

Stick a little hell! They stuck a lot!

Remember that old movie, whose name I forgot, where this spy guy digs into the mouth of another guy who he mistakenly thinks is another spy, deliberately opening up the root of a tooth and keeps poking it, asking ‘is it safe?’
Trying to illicite an appropriate spy response?

Well, I can sympathize with the unwitting victim.

After jerking and twitching a lot, she decides I need to be numbed up. So he grabs one of the harassed and busy dentists as he speeds by. He roars in, obviously irritated at having to pause in his rush, grabs up an injection gun, loads in a Novocain needle and proceeds to ram it through my mouth. The guy is big! He squeezes that gun until his hand shakes with the pressure. No nice painkiller salve applied first. No gentle easy pressure, just jab! Mighty squeeze that makes my gums feel like swelling balloons, then move onto the next spot and jab! again.

He did this several times, ignoring my grunts of protest, and then he was gone. My whole mouth felt like it was several sizes too large. The lady scraped only half of my teeth! Then she told me to set up an appointment to come back within a few days to get the rest done!

I left with what felt like lips made out of old inner tubes and located another dentist.

20

My most evil expierence with an evil dentist recently occured when I had to get a root canal.

At least I think I needed a root canal. The dentist looked at every tooth in my mouth and said root canal. Kind of like the classic SNL bit at cheburger cheburger. No matter what tooth I pointed to he simply said ‘Root Canal’. So he starts in destroying what’s left of my back molar.
(warning it’s about to turn evil)

He goes over to his stero and presses play. Then he wraps his arms around my head pressing the corner of his plastic name tag into my temple then it begins. Throughout this proceedure I am forced to listen to HOOKED ON CLASSICS.

the horror

the horror