My dentist is odd

My dentist used to keep calling me babs I felt like telling her that wasn’t my name until I was told that’s what people in Birmingham called people and she was indeed a brumie she was really nice

I had a new to me dentist last week who was the total opposite.

He was so quietly spoken when he was talking about my x-rays that I thought he was speaking to the dental nurse.
I twigged when I heard him repeatedly ask if I could see it.
No! I was flat on my back with his screen behind my head.

nanna8

You are lucky. Ours are all private round here- several hundred dollars each time . You get about a third back on insurance. Mind you, they are very good - wouldn’t survive if not !

They're all private here too!
Just 10% off with the dental plan.
Even children don't get free NHS treatment any more.
Over two thousand £s for a child to have an impacted tooth extracted.

You are lucky. Ours are all private round here- several hundred dollars each time . You get about a third back on insurance. Mind you, they are very good - wouldn’t survive if not !

I have an NHS dentist from where we used to live before moving 5 years ago. We both travel 100 miles as no NHS dentists here atm. My dentist at this practice deregistered me for not making another appointment soon enough when they cancelled one. But the practice manager put me on another NHS dentists list tg.
We combine appointments with visiting family.
Worst dentist ever had a new dental nurse with him. He was drilling and flirting with her at the same time, calling her darling sweetheart beautiful saying he loved her in English and other languages smoothing her hair, etc. She was very embarrassed lost concentration and my mouth nose and throat filled with water. I was choking for several minutes. Didn't ever go back there.

silverlining48

Baggs you say your dentist doesn’t make eye contact and it’s possible your dentist may have autism.

I thought exactly that, my podiatrist has autism & although doesn’t speak fast, he always looks to the side.

He sounds very odd Baggs, definitely sounds as if he’s on the spectrum, whatever that may be, but dentists come in all shapes & sizes! I’ve got through quite a few in my lifetime. The latest is more than charming but I’ve only ever seen his bright blue eyes. He’s Eastern European, trained in Canada so the accent is difficult for starters compounded by the all encompassing mask. He talks, I nod. Anyway, he does the business very satisfactorily and I pay him a fortune for the ‘pleasure’ 😱

Back in my teens a wrote a short story which featured a dentist who never stopped talking (like mine). I conveyed this by giving him a whole paragraph of speech with virtually no punctuation.

My father in law was a dentist and told terrible jokes when he had people in the chair. He also practiced hypnotherapy which he used with patients with special needs.

My very gorgeous (but sadly young enough to be my grandson) dentist is happy to chat before and after treatment, but once my mouth is open he only speaks if he needs me to do something.

I had a fitness trainer once who used to praise me by saying 'good girl'. I asked her to stop since this is how I praise my dog. She stopped.

Tell him, you're happy with silence. Ask him to explain what he is going to do slowly because ' your hearing isn't what it used to be' and then tell him you'll put your hand up if you want him to stop. I did that once with a very young dentist. Let's face it, they are all seem young these days!

B9exchange

If he is NHS and looks after your teeth well, you are truly blessed! Perhaps take earbuds and your phone, and say you need to listen to music to relax you? 😄

I agree with that, no or very few NHS dentists here in Wales

We had a great dentist but she sold the practice and moved on. We now have a new dentist which is kind of a hybrid between NHS and Private. I ask whoever is treating me to let me know what they are doing and where they are up to with it.

Sorry it should say moved

We used to have a great dentist when he retired we loved practice as his replacement didn’t understand my fear of dentists. My father died in the dentist chair when I was a child. The new practice had a wonderful Greek dentist that was brilliant, but after brexit he moved to Belgium. The dentist I see now very good.

I used to have a brilliant female dentist, but, oh ,she was a gossip. While I was sitting there with a mouth full of equipment she would pass on all the bits of information she'd been told by previous patients in the village. Luckily they were usually people I didn't know! I was always very careful to keep our conversation away from personal things.

Do you live in Ilford? We may have the same dentist!

Yes, there’s probably a ‘diagnosis’ there if we want to go looking for it. But he’s a good dentist, and it does no harm.

I thought all dentists were told as part of their training that chatting about everyday topics helps their patients to relax and calms those who dislike or are afraid of dentists.

It used to be very common indeed both in the UK and in Denmark.

German dentists are much more inclined only to tell you about the state of your teeth and gums and what they feel it would be necessary or advisable to have done.

I would never book a new appointment with a medical professional whose manner did not suit me.

My pet hate is the jovial gynaecologist!

When I was 21 I had this amazing dentist and his nurses, he was intelligent and friendly and talked me through what he was about to do, he cracked jokes and made me and the nurses laugh, great atmosphere all round.

Then he retired and I got Rumpelstiltskin, a horrible old nasty bit of work with a Scottish accent so strong I literally couldn't understand a word he was saying.

The lovely nurses seemed scared of him, they no longer laughed, atmosphere was dark, he snapped at me a couple of times, no doubt trying to make me cry but I refused.

That was the first and last time I ever saw him as I refused to go back from then on!

I'm On my 5th dentist in my life (I'm 50) and he is the 3rd at the same practice that I've been going to since my late teens.

At that practice, the 1st was ok UNTIL I needed some work doing and she decided that the injection to numb, only needed 2 minutes to work. I felt everything and she wouldn't believe me. For several years after, I HATED going to the dentist and only went when I needed to. She sold out and the next dentist, WOW, what a difference, would talk, was polite, was SHOCKED when I said about the treatment and insisted that 10 minutes is the minimum time between numb jab and start work. She introduced me to the water drill and the ability of holding my hand up if I needed her to stop!

She sold out 2 years ago and a chap took over.

And he is very pleasant, very patient and I've read about him and he does have high reviews from his previous practice. I also got a heads up from one of the office staff who said he was great (she too did not like the dentist who scared me, she said she was nasty to those who were on NHS. She preferred the private patients)

New chap is quiet but I did have to speak to him about mum and we sat in the room, chatting quite easily about work mum needed then booked another appointment for the work to be done. Even mum said after, how good he was.

I know I'm lucky to have an NHS dentist and I know that there are some (dentists) that are shocking, (one of my childhood dentists REFUSED to do some work on my teeth whilst I was still under NHS care as it would take him too long to complete and he was going private, he did my 2 older sister's teeth as we all had similar issues. By the time we got a dentist who would take us on, I had hit 18 and the dentist said no to my issues as NHS would no longer fund it due to me being legally an adult, but you can pay yourself! I didn't have the money so never done! And now due nerves regarding dentists etc it'll never be done, that and I still don't have the money.)

When my mother was a young woman, in the 1930's, she had a dentist who used to put tango music on whilst tending to her teeth. He had a stack of 78 records and a gramophone and he would intermittently demonstrate his tango moves to her whilst she was in the chair. He was apparently an excellent dentist though.

My dentist won't look you in the eye and he has no chat but seems good.

I am denta-phobic & I would not, could not get in the chair if the dentist behaved like this. My present one is very calm & I am overue for my check-up.

Yes, silverlining.