Ouch

I went to the dentist this morning, my first of four visits. How did I get so lucky? Well my last dentist was a total jerk, and since he never took x-rays (or really did anything) I have some lovely decay/pre-cavities that need to be taken care of.

My first visit was this morning and all went well and very quickly. I haven't had my mouth numbed in awhile. I forgot how weird it feels. Plus, when my boss walked in this morning, she was giggling at me and knew right away that I was still numb. I can tell that I am going to be in a lot of pain when the numbness has all worn off and I am not looking forward to it. Oh well.

So back to my last dentist. He was NOT a nice guy. I went in for 2 cleanings, and each time he told me that I needed to get my teeth bleached. Now, I have fairly white teeth. Not "Hollywood White," but not bad. The problem lies in one of my front teeth. I had a root canal on it when I was in the 5th grade, and it is slightly darker than the rest of my teeth. The dentist was convinced that I needed to let him break open the seal on my tooth and re-bleach it from the inside. To the tune of $500-$600. Of course not covered by insurance.

I said no. The first time he was mildly annoyed, but backed off after I explained that it was just something I could not afford right now.

6 months pass and I go in for my next cleaning. The pressure to let him bleach my tooth starts up again, and again I say no. Really, there is nothing wrong with my tooth and I sure as hell ain't letting this jerk push me around.

Then, he tells me "You know, you need to get that fixed before it gets too dark and it's unfixable. Besides, people have to look at that you know."

WHAT AN ASS. Really, I didn't realized that my slightly darker tooth was insulting you. Or the people who see me every day. Thanks for letting me know how ugly I am to look at.

Needless to say I have never been so mad at a dentist before. My tooth is no where near being so dark it is unfixable. Then, they never sent me my 6 month check up notice. So I looked up my old dentist, who is just now covered by my insurance and I am now a happy customer of Smile Dental in Culver City. Seriously, he is the nicest dentist I have ever met. He greets everyone (as much as he can) when they walk through the door, his name is Dr. Rad and he has this really cool Russian/Slovanian (I think) accent.

This morning he greeted me by name. Seriously, how cool is that.