@Anne2021 That is weird that an assistant is making decisions like that. What I might do in this case, if I wanted to continue at that office, is talk to the dentist, ask to be put in contact with him to discuss it. My dentist wanted to pull three of my teeth at once, and I told him I wanted to break it up, and he said fine, he also wanted to do all my extractions before my implant, and I said I wanted the implant after one extraction and he said fine. He wanted me to have four extractions at once under sedation and I told him I wanted two at a time with local and he said fine. He thought his way was better in all these cases, but was still willing to go along with me. I have had issues with assistants and hygienists doing things I didn't like too. Because of it, I have kind of studied the behavior of dental assistants and hygienists on reddit and quora, and I believe that they are, in a way, professions who are meant to help or serve dentists, and make things easier for dentists, more than to help patients, but dentists are a profession that is meant to help or serve patients. On the two social media sites I have mentioned, I have observed that dental assistants and hygienists seem more aggressive/less conservative about treatment than dentists or orthodontists, more inclined to force treatment on minors, and very concerned about things like saving the dentists time and effort. I have also seen assistants and hygienists who seem to have something going on where they want the respect given to dentists, to diagnose or treatment plan like dentists, or for patients to see them as dentists, seemingly just an ego thing. On reddit I saw a hygienist saying that a hygienist who could minimize a dentist's time and effort with a patient, and minimize the need for the dentist to converse with a patient should be considered "a rockstar". In a dental office, these folks serve dentists, but don't have liablilty or their reputation at stake like a dentist. I do see what you mean about it being awkward to try and get around her, and I might feel the same way, though. Also, it might be ok to see the dentist who is a new graduate if the oral surgeon is going to them, even if they aren't experienced in practice, it seems like the oral surgeon could tell if they were any good. For me, I would consider it because of his recommendation.
