Phobics prefer blondes - no, gentlemen!

[FrightenedJerk]

I definitely prefer a male dentist. I have had a few female dentists in the past and I have experienced their moods/pmt/personal problems and general womens troubles whilst they are treating my teeth! sorry but us women are a mass of hormones and I think men are more focused on the job in hand, while women can have a thousand things on their minds, no thanks! plus men are gentler. Thats my opinion.

But don't you find that men tend to be more judgmental about your dental problems? That's what I fear. You do make some good points, though.

 

[FearfulInMA]

I go to a male dentist and have never found him to be judgmental. I had originally had very strong feelings about wanting to see a female dentist, but am really glad that I kept an open mind. I do find female healthcare providers, in general, to be less sympathetic and less kind than male providers. I think i may have more to do with the sexism they experience during their training than anything else. That being said, I also had a really great female dentist many years ago.

 

[FrightenedJerk]

I'm really indecisive about this. The points you all are making are pretty good. I guess some of it has to do with men knowing what men are really like, and women knowing what women are really like, and not wanting to experience that attitude in someone who performs delicate operations on your mouth. Without question, people behave differently around those of the opposite sex than they do towards their own, and doctors are no different.

 

[V26P]

As a female dental student reading this has really opened my eyes to patients opinions. I have been treating patients since my 2nd year and have never come across a patient that has chosen to not have treatment by me purely based on my gender. I think female healthcare providers are actually more sympathetic than male, and I have never experienced any sexism during my training years so far. You do get some older male patients who are adamant that they do not want to be treated by 'a young girl' but once they realise that we are technically able to carry out treatment as well as our male counterparts they are more willing to accept treatment.

Also to add my own opinion, I'm only 5 ft 3 and I have never not been able to pull a tooth out! Its a pushing motion not a yanking out one, so with practice it isn't that difficult

 

[griffinej5]

I am going to a dental school. Last year, my student dentist was a female. I really liked her. I went to a male dentist prior to her. He screwed up a root canal. Prior to him, I always went to male dentists. I was kicked out by one, and the first one I remember as a child giving me anesthesia, and it hurt so bad when he did that , that I actually refused anesthesia the next time I had a filling. The endodontist who repaired my root canal at the dental school was a female, and she was okay. My intake appointment was with a male. I liked him pretty well. He actually had done an internship at a place I used to teach at, so he was able to keep me talking pretty well. He was also able to keep me pretty calm as I was gagging and vomiting on the xrays. I've had both male and female faculty dentists come check over the work.

 

[McHobbit]

I honestly have no preference. I've been to awful male and female dentists. The doctors I go to is a husband/wife practice, my therapist is a man and my gynecologist is a woman. I didn't take gender into account when I chose any of them. With my doctors, I went to the female first and instantly liked her. Her husband is nice and gentle as well, but I prefer going to her. I couldn't imagine going to a female therapist but heck I couldn't imagine going to another male either since I'm so comfortable with who I go to right now. There are black sheep of every gender in every profession.

For some strange reason, I have liked most hygienists. I wonder if maybe that is related to the fact that many are close in age to me while dentists still feel like big, bad authority figures.

If a women unloads her "general womens troubles" on you, she's just bad at her job in my opinion. Personally I had males unload their bad moods on me, too. They were just as bad as at their jobs as those women.

 

[kitkat]

I initially thought I preferred females because I have always had male dentists and only struck gold with my current dentist who is female. However, reflecting on past experiences I actually do recall 3 male dentists I had encountered during my childhood who I honestly liked. The problem is we never stayed in an office long enough to build a trusting relationship and I don't recall them ever doing more than an exam. On the other hand, I have had several female hygienists that I disliked with only a couple good ones. The best hygienist I had was actually a male so I conclude gender is not a huge factor afterall.

 

[treenagirl]

My first dentist was a woman and I hated her - she was so unkind and uncaring it made the whole thing 10x worse. I much prefer a male dentist personally. The last three I've had have all been male and have been great with me - even when I've sat crying in their waiting rooms. I think it has a lot to do with their personality and there manner when treating patients rather than whether they are male or female and also your own personal experiences.

 

[OCDGuy]

I have always seen the same male dentist on the NHS and he has been excellent with the whole family. He is now the principle of his own private practice, but still has me on NHS as a favour to my parents which is brilliant.

But last year I had an emergency appointment with a partner at the service, a female who was just as good. Although nothing needed doing, she took the time to give me a cleaning (I'd never had one before) and taught me to use floss, again on the NHS.

So I guess I'm not fussy, when my older dentist retires hopefully the female partner will still be there and I'll go straight to her.

 

[Eisa]

I prefer female dentists because men in any kind of position of authority terrify me, thanks to trauma.

I don't think having a bad experience relies purely on gender--anyone, male or female, can end up being a bad dentist for someone.

 

[carole]

As a female dental student reading this has really opened my eyes to patients opinions. I have been treating patients since my 2nd year and have never come across a patient that has chosen to not have treatment by me purely based on my gender. I think female healthcare providers are actually more sympathetic than male, and I have never experienced any sexism during my training years so far. You do get some older male patients who are adamant that they do not want to be treated by 'a young girl' but once they realise that we are technically able to carry out treatment as well as our male counterparts they are more willing to accept treatment.

Also to add my own opinion, I'm only 5 ft 3 and I have never not been able to pull a tooth out! Its a pushing motion not a yanking out one, so with practice it isn't that difficult

Hi to the forum.

I think a lot of people of my age might say they prefer a male dentist is because it used to be male dominated and the women that did it were very masculine and not at all common. I am 55 by the way, I have always had male dentists some good some not so much so, I think it has more to do with the person and not the gender these days. In the old days there very much was a tugging and pulling of teeth, but todays methods are much gentler.

I have a female dentist at the moment and was very wary of seeing a woman, she is proving to be very gentle and caring and pays much attention to getting me orally healthy. Just as much if not more than a lot of male dentists. My dentist is very friendly and pays a lot of attention to my comfort and making sure I am not feeling anything whilst being treated, and she greats me from the waiting room herself with a smile, which is worth a lot. She is also a chatter box which is nice as it is nice to listen to non dental stuff whilst in there, her nurse is just as nice too. It makes going much easier and less frightening, she also explains what she would like to do and why and before she touches my mouth she tells me what to expect. She is very gentle too which is a major thing.

So male or female doesn't really matter it is down to the person how they make you feel.

 

[kitkat]

Hi
I have a female dentist at the moment and was very wary of seeing a woman, she is proving to be very gentle and caring and pays much attention to getting me orally healthy. Just as much if not more than a lot of male dentists. My dentist is very friendly and pays a lot of attention to my comfort and making sure I am not feeling anything whilst being treated, and she greats me from the waiting room herself with a smile, which is worth a lot. She is also a chatter box which is nice as it is nice to listen to non dental stuff whilst in there, her nurse is just as nice too. It makes going much easier and less frightening, she also explains what she would like to do and why and before she touches my mouth she tells me what to expect. She is very gentle too which is a major thing.

Are you sure we don't go to the same dentist carole? I'm pretty sure that you just described mine to a T!

 

[carole]

Well kitkat we keep telling people on here that there are plenty of good dentists out there and this just goes to prove it.

I hope things are going good for you at the moment how are you?

 

[kitkat]

Well kitkat we keep telling people on here that there are plenty of good dentists out there and this just goes to prove it.

I hope things are going good for you at the moment how are you?

All is well. No complaints for the time being. My dentist just called me out of the blue a couple days ago because it turns out they scheduled me on a day that they are closed. So my routine followup got pushed back a week. It is not until November though so I have awhile.

 

[carole]

I got a call from my hospital dentist today to move mine forward, so now I see him this week on Friday instead of next Wednesday.

I have been having a lot of cold calls and it is just a good job I wasn't rude to him. I am not usually rude but I do put the phone down if I get a few of these calls, lucky I recognised his voice though Phew I would have been embarrassed and I would have felt terrible as this will be my last visit with him I think and he has been so good I would hate to have been rude. I am so calm when I go to the dentist at the moment it doesn't feel like me at all, and it is in a large part due to his treatment of me.

 

[kitkat]

Funny I must have gained the week that you just lost! Lol I was a little unhappy because I really like to just get it overwith but oh well. My dentist has a habit of calling around the week of the appt and is like I have an opening for tomorrow if you'd like to come early. Usually I politely decline the offer! I need my time to build up to it. During the 3 week span I kept going for followups on my problem tooth every week last year I was also absurdly calm especially not really knowing what was going to happen. I felt like one of the people I'm normally jealous of who can approach a dental chair and not tremble in fear. I did not feel like myself at all. It is good that this will be your last tx! You have certainly been through a lot you should celebrate after this one! Perhaps you could leave him with a nice thank you card so he knows how much you appreciate him! I did that with my dentist a few yrs back because I think the job can be quite thankless at times and wanted to thank her for going above and beyond when she didn't have to. She was completely taken by surprise and I could tell it made her day.

 

[carole]

I fully intend to give him a thank you card, I think we should show them that their efforts are worth their time and patience.

 

[jellyfish]

I briefly had a terrible female dentist who was openly sexist. While she was working on me, she started telling me that "all male dentists are chauvinists" who give their patients mercury tattoos (what?) and complaining about how chauvinistic her son was (?!?). I'm a woman, and found this to be very offensive. She was also rude, unprofessional, and bullied me into getting a deep filling with no anesthetic (and then ignored my frantic stop signals for the entire procdure), among many, many other issues.

For dentistry, I don't care so much about gender, but for other medical professionals I tend to prefer males. I have many times encountered female doctors who seem to assume that they know what my priorities and experiences are since we have the same gender - and usually they are very wrong. I've had good and bad male doctors, but at least they don't tend to make these same assumptions.

 

[OCDGuy]

I just had a wobbly tooth (I thought) and my dentist was away. Saw the female dentist in the same practice and she was lovely, explained everything and how the tooth moves normally like it should so it won't break.

Gender plays no role for me, it's chairside manner, competence and their personality.

Luckily for me my dentist is only hitting 50, and the female dentist is 31, so if mine retires, hopefully she'll still be there.

 

[carole]

I like your way of thinking OCDGuy