B
BlaneH
Junior member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2009
- Messages
- 5
I'm 24 and posted previously a couple years ago to try and get some support. Since then I've had a wonderful woman come into my life who has been entirely supportive and encouraged me to finally go get a check up after several years of neglect, fear, and anxiety. I went to a dentist that some of my co-workers go to. My first mistake was not in shopping around more.
I go in for a cleaning and consult. Immediately the lady doing the cleaning was unsure if she should and went to go ask the very old doctor whose practice it was. Without even looking at my teeth (which are very obviously in bad shape) he gave her the go ahead and she did the bottom insides before once again stopping. In the midst of this I was spitting out little bits of blood and parts of my teeth along with gagging frequently. Just a terrible mess. She calls the doctor in who I have never met. He puts his hands on my shoulders and goes "now its my turn to pick on you" which immediately set off red flags. He takes a quick look and calls it off. The hygienist does some x-rays and then I am sent all the away across the office to sit in a room by myself with no information given as to why. Older dentist comes in and puts his hands on my shoulders like he did before and goes "I have to trade your teeth in for new ones". Still hasn't introduced himself or anything. Proceeds to tell me everything has to come out. Hems and haws while a younger hygienist has come in. She seemed visibly uncomfortable with the route he was suggesting and asked if there was anything we could besides that. He half groaned and walked out of the room saying to her (I haven't been spoken to since abruptly being told all my teeth are being removed) that he was going to ask the other dentist. I hear him walk aside and talk to him with my x-rays and says "is this something you even wanna get involved in?". The second dentist comes in. He was in his 40's and seemed much better. He explained a lot of extractions would have to be done and that he'd be willing to try and fight to fix what he could if I wanted. He said this would cost upwards of 10k even after my menial insurance. He also said he didn't want me to spend money to fix it if I wasn't going to maintain it. I said obviously the reason I was there was to start heading down the right path.
He also gave me some other options of full dentures which I'm not quite comfortable resigning myself to yet. He also said he could keep and build some select teeth in the bottom and basically mount dentures to a plate for retention. He said he'd probably remove all my tops which breaks my heart since those are the ones I definitely wanted to keep/fix. He suggested maybe finishing the cleaning that day but I was just spent and was doing my best to keep it together. I said I'd come back in after thinking things over which he said was a good plan and to call if I had any questions. I walked out and the younger female hygienist makes sure to give me a toothbrush and some encouragement. I have to say she was the one shining part in all of this who seemed actually like she cared and wanted to help.
Walked out. Had a panic attack and broke down in the car since I had used up everything I had to not do it in front of the doctors. It took a lot of effort to take the steps I did and it went just about as badly as possible. The worst case scenario I always had in my mind for going back happened. Where do I go from here? Seek a second opinion since the girlfriend and I (along with her mother) weren't very impressed with the office and how they handled things? Is it going to be like this no matter where I go? I know I'm not a dentist and that I need a lot of work. I just want somewhere where their initial reaction to a 24 year old is to scrap everything. I've had dental issues my entire life as a product of bad diet and terrible genetics. I just want to finally go down the right path since I have a support system to do so.
I go in for a cleaning and consult. Immediately the lady doing the cleaning was unsure if she should and went to go ask the very old doctor whose practice it was. Without even looking at my teeth (which are very obviously in bad shape) he gave her the go ahead and she did the bottom insides before once again stopping. In the midst of this I was spitting out little bits of blood and parts of my teeth along with gagging frequently. Just a terrible mess. She calls the doctor in who I have never met. He puts his hands on my shoulders and goes "now its my turn to pick on you" which immediately set off red flags. He takes a quick look and calls it off. The hygienist does some x-rays and then I am sent all the away across the office to sit in a room by myself with no information given as to why. Older dentist comes in and puts his hands on my shoulders like he did before and goes "I have to trade your teeth in for new ones". Still hasn't introduced himself or anything. Proceeds to tell me everything has to come out. Hems and haws while a younger hygienist has come in. She seemed visibly uncomfortable with the route he was suggesting and asked if there was anything we could besides that. He half groaned and walked out of the room saying to her (I haven't been spoken to since abruptly being told all my teeth are being removed) that he was going to ask the other dentist. I hear him walk aside and talk to him with my x-rays and says "is this something you even wanna get involved in?". The second dentist comes in. He was in his 40's and seemed much better. He explained a lot of extractions would have to be done and that he'd be willing to try and fight to fix what he could if I wanted. He said this would cost upwards of 10k even after my menial insurance. He also said he didn't want me to spend money to fix it if I wasn't going to maintain it. I said obviously the reason I was there was to start heading down the right path.
He also gave me some other options of full dentures which I'm not quite comfortable resigning myself to yet. He also said he could keep and build some select teeth in the bottom and basically mount dentures to a plate for retention. He said he'd probably remove all my tops which breaks my heart since those are the ones I definitely wanted to keep/fix. He suggested maybe finishing the cleaning that day but I was just spent and was doing my best to keep it together. I said I'd come back in after thinking things over which he said was a good plan and to call if I had any questions. I walked out and the younger female hygienist makes sure to give me a toothbrush and some encouragement. I have to say she was the one shining part in all of this who seemed actually like she cared and wanted to help.
Walked out. Had a panic attack and broke down in the car since I had used up everything I had to not do it in front of the doctors. It took a lot of effort to take the steps I did and it went just about as badly as possible. The worst case scenario I always had in my mind for going back happened. Where do I go from here? Seek a second opinion since the girlfriend and I (along with her mother) weren't very impressed with the office and how they handled things? Is it going to be like this no matter where I go? I know I'm not a dentist and that I need a lot of work. I just want somewhere where their initial reaction to a 24 year old is to scrap everything. I've had dental issues my entire life as a product of bad diet and terrible genetics. I just want to finally go down the right path since I have a support system to do so.