I don't wanna go to the dentist!!!

Don't make me do it!!! AHHH!!!
OK, I have never before been afraid of the dentist. I actually used to get excited about the dentist. As a kid, I really liked all the personal attention. Not to mention the delicious flavors of fluoride and toothpaste. Plus the toothbrush always tickled, so that was fun. Then there was the fascination of getting to look up hairy and not-so-hairy noses - endlessly entertaining.

So what gives?

Well, it is my new dentist. For one thing, he is old. VERY OLD. On my first visit to him a short 6 months ago, I couldn't help but wonder if he shouldn't have already retired. Honestly, he appeared to have one foot in the nursing home door. He was obese to the point where he had to walk very slowly. I would call it more of a limp-shuffle really. And when he finally arrived at a stool near my head, he was out of breath and wheezing.

This I could all very well deal with. Except his age and physical appearance are not the end of it. He also seemed to be from the old school mentality of health care professionals that treated their patients paternalistically. He knew what was best for me, he didn't expect me to understand, and he didn't think it was necessary to explain. It is hard not to find this kind of behavior annoying at best, insulting at worst. He was also the kind of person that would cut me off half way through a question and start rambling on, never addressing the question he didn't listen to.

The clincher though, was the flossing. Now as many of you may know, I am a religious flosser. I feel best at twice a day. I know I will sound like a nerd when I say this, but what those dental hygienists say is true: flossing can feel like a relaxing gum massage. mmmm.

But not with this guy! (Why did he insist on flossing me while his hygienist watched? Who knows.) He made my gums hurt like never before. I bled from between almost every tooth! He immediately claimed it was because I do not floss. Then he made a reference to that sorry excuse for a dental patient whose flossing lies are revealed by blood and pain. It was after this that he glanced at my chart and noticed I said I floss daily. I felt like I was on trial pleading my innocence. Since I insisted I floss, he left it at my not flossing hard enough. OW! Not hard enough? I have never had a complaint before from any dentist. Quite the opposite, they usually are praising my dental hygiene.

I left his office that day with a throbbing mouth. Quite frankly, I am afraid to go back. But what choice do I have? Now that my work doesn't give me health coverage I am lucky enough to qualify for MN Care. The only problem is this guy was the only dentist willing to (a) see me at all and (b) not make me wait 10 months for my first appointment. Damn. I miss my fancy bourgeois dentist.