Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Gilda
That's already a more detailed explanation than what my dentist gave me. Why would teeth wearing unevenly be a bad thing?
|
for the same reason that ANYTHING with uneven wear is a bad thing. You end up with parts of whatever's wearing sticking up, therefore getting worn down even faster or possibly breaking off.
and since your jaw is somewhat flexible over time, uneven wear can probably cause jaw alignment issues as well - Ustwo?
Quote:
|
How can I really know that? They have a product to sell, just like any other business, that product being dental care. It makes sense that they might be trying to do what's best for me, but it also makes sense that they might be trying to do what's best for their bottom line.
|
As Ustwo pointed out, they waived 30% of their fee so you could get the treatment you needed. That's a pretty darn solid indicator right there that they're looking out for you instead of looking to screw you. Plus, consider this: There's about 300 million people in the United States. Every single one of them requires dental care of some sort. With such a large customer base, they don't really NEED to try and rip you off
Quote:
|
In either case, their customer service was quite bad, at least in how they treated me.
|
I think you need to take a step back and consider how you are reacting here. From your posts elsewhere on here, you tend to be a bit more sensitive to negative events than some. It seems to me anyway that this may be coloring your viewpoint on what exactly the dentist was thinking while he was talking to you.
It's absolutely pathetic that your parents never took you to the dentist. There are ALWAYS options - hell dental schools need patients to practice on and you can get work done there VERY cheaply. The dentist IS a necessity for children. Period. Your parents wouldn't say "Well she's not FREEZING so we don't NEED to clothe her do we?" Your dentist was probably pissed off at that, and further pissed off at your insurance plans, which as you noted seem to be trying to discourage you from actually taking advantage of them.
Quote:
|
I would think that medical professionals are going to occasionally get patients who've never been to the doctor before, or at least to that type of specialist.
|
It's very, very rare for children in well-off countries to have never visited the dentist. It wouldn't surprise me at all if you were the first adult patient the hygenist had ever had who had never been to the dentist.
Quote:
|
Given that I didn't qualify my statement in anyway, I would think the meaning was unambiguous. When I answer "When was the last time you had your teeth cleaned?" with "This is the first time," it seems to me that it should be clear that I mean "This is the first time I've had my teeth cleaned," given the question that prompted my answer.
|
Yes, it logically seems that way to you. But if the sky turned green tomorrow and you asked on here what color the sky would be when you walked out for the first time that morning, and we told you "green" would you buy it at first?
Since you're in the vast minority with your never-having-gone-to-the-dentist situation, it's quite logical to believe that the hygenist thought you were telling her that it was your first time having your teeth cleaned at *that* office.
Quote:
|
That seems a strange assumption. Some people come from poor framilies in which dental care is a luxury. I'd been in college for four years at a very expensive school which would make it even less likely I'd have access to dental care.
|
To the general public it makes it more likely. Rich kids go to very expensive schools. Rich kids also get regular dental visits.
Quote:
|
instead of working together with me as an equal partner in deciding what was best for me
|
Well, let's dissect that for a second. Let's put this into your area of expertise. If you get a student who comes up to you after the first class and says "hey by the way Professor G. . . I never learned how to read. Books were a luxury." you're not going to work with him as an equal to come up with what is best for him because he is not an equal. You're gonna tell him to go freakin' learn to read.
Same thing with your dentist. The general dental patient doesn't know much about dental work except that it involves a lot of spitting and sometimes it hurts. Because of your lack of dentist-going experience, you know even less. You and the dentist are not on equal footing - he's the expert here, and from his point of view, there are no options to be discussed as equals. You MUST get your teeth taken care of or bad things will eventually happen.
Quote:
|
It was about them wanting me to come in every six months and them wanting me to go to the orthodontist, as if what I wanted had little to do with anything.
|
The fact that you went the first time tells us that you want to keep your teeth. They're addressing that want by telling you how to do it.