|
Not that I want to step on Dr. “Happy” Jack Von Bulow’s turf, but I have recently re-entered the world of dentistry. Not as a practitioner as is Jack, but as a patient and a reluctant one at that.
While Jack shares with us weekly the benefits and the strides that the dental profession makes I thought I would share the flip side of that coin. That of the recipient of those procedures and of the new home of my family's teeth.
As I have shared with you in the past, my experiences with dentists over the years has not been pleasant ones. As a matter of fact, they have been down right scary. Ever since my family’s dentist, Dr. Schweitzer, retired, I have wandered the dental terrain like a nomad searching for Dr. “Feelgood” only to find Dr “Pain”.
We tried desperately to get on to the “Happy” Von Bulow “A” list but sadly he doesn’t take our dental plan. Going the geography route didn’t work out too well either. Granted, there are many to choose from with in a 3-mile radius of where we live, but with many that we called there seemed to be a communication problem. Specifically, they couldn’t understand what we were saying.
The last dentist was Dr. “Top Ramen” so called because I’m still not clear on how to pronounce her name. While she was geographically desirable, she was also a nightmare on dental street. And as I have written about before, we couldn’t eat anything but Top Ramen for a week after a visit, so the name seemed to fit.
Before her, there was a long list, all of whom seemed to come from the same genetic pool that spawned Dr. Zel from the movie Marathon Man or the sadistic dentist played by Steve Martin in Little Shop of Horrors. While both of those characters were fictional, you have to know that the writers who conceived them had to have some basis in reality, as my adventures in dentistry are a testimony to.
So now fast forward to my latest adventure that takes my family and I to the San Gabriel Valley Family Dental Center on Rosemead Boulevard in, of course, San Gabriel. As I wrote about a couple of months ago, Dr. Joseph Rosenberg is at the helm as Chief of Staff of a group of dentists. As you may or may not remember I was a little miffed at the fact that when we made our first visit Dr. Rosenberg did not see my son Alex during his appointment. My mindset at the time was that we had made an appointment with Dr. Rosenberg and we were expecting him to be the one whose hands were in my son’s mouth.
Next to put their toe in the new dental waters was my daughter Rachel. This time, Dr. Rosenberg was in attendance and was very hands on. He took the time to explain things to me personally as he went along. Things were beginning to look up in Dental Land.
Since the kids had survived unscathed, and were not voicing any complaints of discomfort, it was my turn. One of the nice things about having kids their age is that you can use them in a situation like this as guinea pigs. So in I go for my first check up, thinking that I was in for a cleaning and hopefully to start work on two desperately need crowns.
Not that I was surprised, but that was not what was going to happen. You see, one of the things that is very in vogue in the dental world nowadays is what is called deep cleaning. A little procedure, where if your gums are receding and tarter is present in the x-ray, they charge you, if you don’t have insurance, approximately $800 to prevent more recession. You get three guesses who was next in line for this little torture and the first two don’t count.
The last time I was told I needed this was two dentists ago so I thought that my daily brushing and flossing had paid off. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The last time I was told about this procedure it was by a dentist I will refer to as Dr. “Slick Steve.” Unlike Dr. Rosenberg, he gave me the impression that I had no choice in the matter. This was going to be done or he would not be doing anything else in my mouth. Leave it safe to say, “Slick” and I parted ways soon thereafter.
Maybe if he had taken the time, like Dr. Rosenberg did, we would have had a better and longer relationship. Even though Dr. Rosenberg has yet to set foot in my mouth he has been very thorough in his explanations of the procedures and is very friendly in his demeanor. Unlike “Slick” who gave me the impression that he was only in it for the money.
Soon after my consultation, my deep cleaning began with Dr. Lwin. I have to say that she had a great chair side manner. She had a great sense of humor and when someone is using metal tools in your mouth this can be very comforting, at least to me.
Now, I don’t know if I have been living a sheltered dental life, but every dentist I have been to has only had a couple of offices and maybe two dentists. This place has multiple offices and dentists including orthodontics, which on my second visit I got the full tour. It would also test the senses of humor of the rest of the staff.
This little scenario is in no way a refection of the staff of the SGVFDC, things like this happen all the time, but on this particular day everyone thought it was pretty funny. My appointment was for 1:00. I specifically picked this time so that I would have time for my deep cleaning and still have time to pick up my kids. I arrived at 12:50. For some reason, the person who arrived and signed in before me, who was obviously in another time zone, signed in at 1:00.
She was sent in ahead of me by what I am assuming was the office manager. I say assume because she was not wearing scrubs but seemed to have the attention of everyone behind the reception counter. When I was called and taken back to see Dr. Lwin she had already begun with the person from the other time zone. So back to the waiting room for me. When I told the Dental Assistant of my time restraint (picking up the kids) is when the drill began. Which to me sets this dental practice apart from the rest.
The DA immediately finds Dr. R who jumps into action like the Lakers in the 4th quarter. The DA comes back and takes me to another office and starts to get me set up, puts on the bib, starts to get out the tools when another DA comes in and says that this is not the right room for me and we move to another.
Once in this room, the DA tells me they call this the 60’s psychedelic room, which is a nod to the orange and foil wallpaper you face when sitting in the chair. The lavender paper products used in this room didn’t match, but hey, it was the sixties. Just a note to whoever is in charge with the interior design, a Beatles or a Peter Max poster would be a nice touch. Once again the set up begins and the tools are laid out in front of me.
Now that I think about it, this is a bizarre little custom. Here you are, already stressed at the fact that someone is about to start digging around in your mouth with sharp metal instruments, and to heighten that sense of dread they put them out in front of you. Especially the syringe, which is they scariest thing on the tray. It’s kind of like the executioner displaying the ax before he beheads you.
After about ten minutes of staring at the tools and the wallpaper my DA comes back and says that this room was not going to work out either, so to another room we go. Apparently the ghost of Timothy Leary wanted that room. Now we were in the yellow room and it felt like home, besides I think they had run out of rooms.
Much to my surprise I was not joined by my original DA or Dr. Lwin, it was yet another DA and Dr. Fitzgerald. I began to wonder how many DA’s and doctors were in this place. Apparently Dr. R had waved his magic dental tool and was hell bent on getting me out of there in time to pick up my kids. Bravo Dr. R!
Once again, I was amazed at the good humor exhibited by Dr. Fitzgerald and the DA given the fact I was not their patient and they were putting off their lunch so I could eat mine without dentures in the future. We all had a good chuckle over the fact that she was about to start numbing the same side that Dr. Lwin deep cleaned last week. Thank God for communication between doctors and patients before action.
I have to say that Dr. Fitzgerald had the gentlest touch with the syringe that I have ever experienced and she finished in record time without making me wish I had a cyanide caplet on me to end the agony. I would let her in my mouth again anytime.
On my way out, as I was passing Dr. R’s office, I heard him shout out “We got you out of here with time to spare!” I extended my heartfelt thanks, paid my bill, made a dash to my car, and indeed was able to pick up my kids with time to spare.
As I did, I was thankful to Dr. R and his staff for making me feel as though I had finally found the dental Promised Land, but only my crowns will tell.
The Shrub Speaks: The second pillar of peace and security in our world is the willingness of free nations, when the last resort arrives, to retain aggression and evil by force. London, England, Nov. 19, 2003
B.D.’s Response: Dubya, do you ever think before you speak? Aggression and evil by force –are you our President or an evil doer?
|
