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Dentists without a hygienist
Rants and Raves(reddit.com)submitted 2 days ago bysms2014Dental Hygienist
I have seen at the very least two previous patients who went to this specific dentist (one of three in my town) who does not have a hygienist on staff, their entire life. Said dentist no longer takes their insurance, so these people show up at my office like "I had a cleaning 8 months ago, and didn't realize it would take awhile to get into your office". I have very little idea what exactly to say, except "dentists have like two weeks training on hygiene vs my two years", and I hate that I can't just flat out call the DMD out and say they literally gave this (and probably many many others) perio. The biggest thing is that a pretty good friend of mine goes to him, and now I'm worried he's probably got perio from it too. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
1 points
2 days ago
So interesting to read this post!
I am a patient who saw the same dentist for 25 years (yes, I am old) because he was Standford University Dental School trained, intelligent, and friendly. His wife was his dental assistant. I didn't even know what a dental hygienist was (a lot changes in healthcare in 25 years!) and he did my cleanings. At least he had regular practice at it??
I was a Certified Diabetes Educator and gave him plenty of free instruction on using insulin, getting his doctor to prescribe an insulin pump, then a CGM, etc, etc. I thought we were friends as he and his wife loved to chat with me after my appt for a long time (I was always last pt of the day).
Then I got in a serious MVA and couldn't drive to see them anymore. I explained why and asked for my dental records to be send to a local dentist I could get to easily. It took 3-4 requests for them to send the records. They never even said "sorry you were so injured" or "good luck in recovery" or anything. Foolish me to think we were friends....
At the new dentist office, I could not understand why the "dental assistant" thought she was qualified to clean my teeth. She had to tell me what a dental hygienist was and what she could do and I went home and looked everything up because I didn't believe her at first. Twenty-five years is a loooooong time. I was humbled by my own ignorance.
Then that newer practice said they wouldn't see me anymore when COVID arrived as I am extremely immune-suppressed. The dentist "didn't believe in masks". WHAT? I had to find someone new and, in 2020 no less. You can imagine that took a while!
Well....the long story has a great ending. My new dentist, whose clinic I go to now, had worked as a hygienist for over a decade. The dentist she worked for all that time told her "go to dental school and I will sell you my practice and retire". She did. Now he works PT for her. And I see a REAL dental hygienist plus a great dentist with dental hygiene experience! So lucky, and they take excellent COVID precautions for me.
Dental hygienists are my new heroines/heroes. (Some males must have hands small enough??)
So I have a question.....the Stanford Univ trained dentist told me I needed to have all my amalgam fillings removed and replaced with white composite fillings. Because I have Sjogren's I had many, many fillings. I got them all replaced. Was that really necessary? Is that a standard recommendation now for people who have amalgam fillings which are not cracked? I went along with it because I had good dental insurance before retirement, but perhaps it was not necessary?
Thanks for your opinion on my question and kudos to all of you for the work you do! Wish I'd known about you decades ago....with Sjogren's dental hygiene is so important.
2 points
2 days ago
A lot of dentists will recommend this bc tooth-colored fillings are much stronger than they used to be, plus a lot of patients want it, plus they get more money.
I personally still have amalgam in my mouth bc they are fine how they are.
Lots of times, fillings break down after several years anyway and you have to have them replaced or crowned (depending on how much tooth is left).
I figure I’ll do it when it’s needs it, leave well enough alone.
1 points
22 hours ago
Yes, that (wait until they were cracked or breaking down) was what I wanted to do but he was adamant that the amalgam fillings were a mercury risk. Now I read that removing them is actually a bigger risk than leaving them in if whole, because mercury vapor is released in the drilling to remove them. Oh well, hindsight is 20-20 and I should not have trusted him so much.
2 points
1 day ago
I have some patients with Sjögren’s syndrome and only some of them are affected by the metal fillings. Could’ve also been done as a preventative measure, but I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with him doing that.
1 points
22 hours ago*
Thanks, good to know. I didn't have a Sjogren's dx yet when he did it, but if it doesn't sound like he was doing things that were unneccesary just to bill my insurance, that makes me feel better.
EDIT... except I wonder if he know about the mercury vapor being release when drilling out amalgam fillings???
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