It was frustrating, but the staff came through for me, and I have Percocet
It pays to have a spouse at your back when the clinic’s employees and doctors drop the ball. Especially when the husband enters “Scorched Earth” mode. My wife was firm and polite, and I’m glad she insisted on doing the talking.
Close enough to walk to, but they will never see me again
There’s a local Dentist’s office close enough to walk to when it’s not too hot or raining. That’s a good thing because I don’t have a car and the bus shows up when it wants to.
The local Dentist and Hygienist are fine. I have no issue with the work they do, it’s the people who work the desk that annoy me. Too much of a hassle to get a tooth extracted.
The Start of a year of drama and nonsense
My impacted last wisdom tooth was overdue for extraction and the Dentist wanted it gone. I don’t know why a Dentist can pull some, but some teeth need surgical removal and I don’t care. I also wanted the tooth gone.
The Dentist gave me a referral for an oral surgeon. My wife handles all my clerical stuff, for good reason. She called them. They emailed me some forms to fill out. The forms were long and tedious and they pissed me off when they asked me to fill them out again.
A pattern emerged
The Dentist’s office staff didn’t send the referral in time. The time to get the surgery expired. If I remember right, I had to ask the dentist’s office three times to send the paperwork.
There was more drama I couldn’t keep it straight in my mind and it would make the story too long. My wife after much persuasion. Convinced me to let her contact a Dental Clinic with several offices in Columbia.
I will listen to my wife more often
We live twenty miles outside of Colombia South Carolina and I don’t have a car. We paid the sweetheart who lives across the breezeway from us to take us to my first appointment.
The Finance Department worked out a plan and extended me credit. Soon after that. I had an appointment for deep cleaning and gum scaling. The clinic has a Surgery Department.
I’m impressed with the professionalism of my new Dental Clinic
Deep scaling and cleaning is a painful and bloody mess, but not this time. It wasn’t fun, but it was easier and had less blood than when I had it done in the past. I had high hopes that the surgery would be as smooth.
I don’t know why I do it, but the night before surgery is a sleepless night for me. At 3:00 A.M this morning I was editing submissions. I’m a Volunteer Editor for Illumination Integrated Publications.
No way were we walking out of there with the tooth still in my mouth
The young lady across the breezeway took my wife and me to the clinic on time. When we walked in, the competent young lady at the desk was on the phone trying to get my doctor to fax the clearance.
I needed clearance from my doctor. He received the request in good time, but he didn’t realize it was time-sensitive so he blew it off. The Lady at the desk wanted me to reschedule the surgery.
Ten minutes of fighting through voice prompts and answering services
I’m glad my wife was with me. I was going to go scorched Earth. My wife called my doctor and was nice but firm. My Doctor signed and sent the clearance.
The surgery staff was excellent. The Surgeon and nurse removed the tooth with no drama, and my awesome neighbor went to the drugstore to get my meds.
I have a lot of questions, but two come to mind
I napped this afternoon. I’m going to relax tomorrow and follow the aftercare instructions to the letter. The Saga of the impacted tooth extraction brought several observations that angered me.
1. Why can’t employees do their jobs?
The Woman at the first Dental Clinic had one task, She had to send a fax. Why did I have to ask her three times to do it? I even had to make a special trip to the clinic. Why wasn’t it done the first time?
2. Why are so many steps necessary?
Ten years ago, I had two Wisdom teeth removed, not at the same time, because I’m not insane. It was straightforward. The Dentist referred me to an Oral Surgeon. I filled out paperwork in the office. The surgeon removed the tooth.
Times have changed
During the previous attempt. The first surgeon required me to fill out paperwork that took a few hours to complete. The order expired because someone at the dentist’s office didn’t do their job. So, I had to fill the paperwork out again.
The experience at the second clinic was so much better. The Dentist and Surgeon worked for the same clinic in the same building. It’s more expensive, but they have reasonable financing. They streamlined everything and they worked as a team.
Last night, I had the usual pre-surgery jitters. I was up editing at three A.M. So, I was tired and stressed. The awesome staff member at the desk was on the phone trying to get in touch with my doctor.
Overreliance on technology irritates me.
Why can’t a human pick up a phone at a doctor’s office? Come on, Doctors make enough to pay humans to answer phones. Trying to figure out which number to press. Trying to find the right person to help you, only to have the call go to voicemail is maddening.
My wife set the clinic straight and the Doctor faxed the clearance. They shot me up with feelgood juice and two hours later they helped me to the waiting area.
I have meds and aftercare instructions. I will pay this off and decide on implants or partials. I will have an expensive smile when I’m done. It’s worth it.
Final Thought:
I know people are busy, and doctors and dentists have a lot on their plates. They need to hire competent people who do more than the bare minimum to get by.
Everything got done, but I waited a year for it to happen. A year of running around in circles. Humans should answer phones and faxes, emails should be sent and answered in a timely fashion. They expect their bills to be paid on time. So, Communicate with the patient promptly.
Respect the patient.
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