H
HedgieGoLightly
Junior member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2023
- Messages
- 8
- Location
- UK
After much trawling round dentists I found a fantastic one and I’ve had the same dentist and hygienist for the past couple of years… Then I was told my hygienist left.
Last hygienist appointment was due and I made an appointment. Then the date was changed which was OK. Then I found out that the hygienist was changed also. Which I suppose was OK given I didn’t know either of them.
Unfortunately the new hygienist was very enthusiastic and I’m sure she was a lovely person but she leapt straight in and I left after 15 minutes, only to discover I couldn’t get out of the chair without assistance.
I’ve spent a few days … and sleepless nights … working out everything I think went wrong.
The hygienist did say I could have the other half of my appointment this Friday. But I’ve just cancelled it after another sleepless night...
...And I haven’t a clue what to do now as I seem to be back where I started with not wanting to go to the dentist and not knowing if I need to find a new one (because of the accessibility issue with the chairs) …
p.s. Many thanks if you’ve read through all this! This is my first post on the forum and I didn’t realise it was going to end up this long.
Last hygienist appointment was due and I made an appointment. Then the date was changed which was OK. Then I found out that the hygienist was changed also. Which I suppose was OK given I didn’t know either of them.
Unfortunately the new hygienist was very enthusiastic and I’m sure she was a lovely person but she leapt straight in and I left after 15 minutes, only to discover I couldn’t get out of the chair without assistance.
I’ve spent a few days … and sleepless nights … working out everything I think went wrong.
- The practice has new chairs. These have a deep dip where your bottom goes and then your legs are raised. I have arthritis and after sitting on the chair struggled to slide backwards down into the ‘dip’. I couldn’t get my legs up onto the chair at all so the hygienist had to put an ordinary chair alongside for me to put them up on. Once she lowered the back of the examination chair I could get my legs up but I wasn’t as comfortable and felt very vulnerable. Then, when I went to get out I discovered I couldn’t physically do so by myself (I could with the old style 'flat' chairs).
- My preference is for the dentist or hygienist to put some music on and chatter … about anything else … so I am distracted. I am also used to being asked about everything before it begins e.g. Is this OK to do this? And to being told it’s nearly done (or how long until it is).
- Unfortunately the new hygienist didn’t ask and was enthusiastically talking about how much she was going to get done and talking about what she was doing. (And I, of course, felt unable to tell her not to because I didn’t know her).
- I first saw the new hygienist walk into reception while I was waiting and, although I tried not to, I immediately thought “Oh I hope that’s not my hygienist” because she had a headscarf on, those goggle glasses over the bottom of the headscarf and a face mask over her lower face. She didn’t – to me – look human and that, due to previous experience, absolutely terrifies me. She looked like that throughout my appointment with her but I felt unable to be rude and say so.
- My old hygienist used scraping and polishing. The new one used water which she said was less painful – and she was right. But it was still something else new. And then she said that it was a better technique and that scraping damaged your teeth. Which may be right … but … I learned to trust my old hygienist .. which left me with the question if she was damaging my teeth who could I trust?
The hygienist did say I could have the other half of my appointment this Friday. But I’ve just cancelled it after another sleepless night...
...And I haven’t a clue what to do now as I seem to be back where I started with not wanting to go to the dentist and not knowing if I need to find a new one (because of the accessibility issue with the chairs) …
p.s. Many thanks if you’ve read through all this! This is my first post on the forum and I didn’t realise it was going to end up this long.