So I went for my dental cleaning this morning and they tried to push me to buy their special dental plan (I have no dental insurance). I told them that's Ok, I am self pay and didnt want it. Then they informed me I needed x-rays (which would cost just a bit less than their plan, making it a BiG BaRgAiN). I told them they took my x-rays last year and I didnt need them again, I was just there for a cleaning.
Then the receptionist said, "Oh we cant see you if you don't get x-rays, It the LAW. Everyone has to get them once a year."
I said, "Really? That's interesting, may I please have a copy of that law for my own reference?"
She got flustered and went and got the office manager. The office manager cooly asked, "May I please ask what your concern is?"
I said, "My concern is that I do not like unnecessary procedures (I'm a RN).
She stated in an authoritative tone, "Everyone need annual x-rays and we would be negligent if we did not take x-rays of our clients."
I asked in an authoritative tone, "Where is this LAW that determines that all dental patients need annual x-rays?"
She said, "I'll go and get the dentist for you."
The dentist arrived, all friendly and charming, "What's the problem?"
I said all friendly, charming, and chatty back, 'There isn't a problem. I'm being told I must comply to a LAW and I want to see the copy of the law. Easy Peazy,"
He hemmed and hawed, "Well, I dont know that its a law--"
"It isn't," I interrupted, "I checked."
He went on, "But as a dentist I personally feel that I cant treat you properly without annual x-rays and it is our policy."
"THERE it is", I pointed out, "It's a policy, not a law. That's what I thought."
He was red. "But its a policy that is strictly adhered to and we will not treat you without x-rays."
"Oh NO PROBLEM, I've quite lost interest in being treated here anyway. I don't like being manipulated and I was being manipulated so that you could have guaranteed annual revenue. Annual x-rays on every patient is a lot of money, I get it. SO you all have a nice day and I will find another dentist office."
I walked out but noted with some dismay at all of the jaws dropped in the waiting room.
I should have said to them before I left...."I'm waking up. Please, YOU wake up too."
Good for you! I loved hearing your story.
i no longer trust any medical professionals. dentist are the worst.
good for you for serving up some reality!
I have been very fortunate with my family dentist, they’ve had a mask required sign up but we never wear them, and they don’t care one bit. I see some of them walking around without them too. When I went in last (I’m there a lot because I have a big family) the signs were down and the only ones wearing masks were the ones that were dealing with a patient (open mouths, saliva, blood, mask definitely needed).
I refer everyone I can to this office.
Well done!!
Good for you for sticking up for yourself! At my old dentist, they would "highly recommend" the x-ray but never forced it. You saw many dropped jaws because most people don't think they can stand up against "the medical professional", and you showed how to do it with resolve and strength.
EXCELLENT stand-up, fren!
We have a good dentist friend who treats my family very well, after we housed a good friend of his who for two years would otherwise have been homeless. I've been going to him for about 3 years, and I haven't had any x-rays since the first round.
I was hoping to read that you had asked for a written copy of the dentist's "policy", which I would think MUST be in writing in order to be used as a rule of treatment or refusal thereof.
I recommend involving the ADA . . . could get this idiot grifter sanctioned, or worse.
Xrays yearly also gives you unnecessary radiation, which is stored in your body. (Per a cancer specialist at the MAYO Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ in 1992). Avoid getting any form of radiation like the plague.
Great job!
Love this!!!
Good job!
Dentists are the absolute worst! I was trying to avoid driving far to see an old dentist, so I went to a new local one. They used x-rays sent to them from a previous year and this doctor super magnified it ( literal csi "enhance, enhance" bs) then tried to do some high contrast stuff to show me all the work that needs to be done, found 5000$ worth of work. I told her I thought it was funny how the dentist that took them didn't find anything. I ended up making the drive back to the old dentist and he laughed and said there's absolutely nothing noteworthy with the teeth, adjusted the bite for free and sent me home saying he doesn't have medical school loans to pay back like the new dentists do. Also, consider all the unnecessary radiation we're getting with those x-rays every year. Same thing with mammograms.
It's the same thing with eye doctors too. If your eyes are fine, there's no reason to go. People getting new glasses every year is causing a vicious cycle of people needing stronger glasses.
Its a diagnostic procedure, nothing less and nothing more. And like most procedures, it carries an element of risk. Perhaps more than most - do the xray techs wear lead aprons, stand behind the screens, or vacate the room entirely etc for no reason? Which by the way, it appears they were very negligent in hand-waving away rather than explaining the pros and cons of the risks.
As soon as I see random receptionists, office managers and indeed any non-legal professional rambling about laws, thats also a huge red flag. Do they really have competent legal training to make such a call?
Too many red flags and I would have left as well, you handled that very well.
My dad works with a guy who came up with something he called the "speeding bus theory". Whenever anybody (such as a dentist/doctor) keeps telling him to get extra work he doesn't need (read: money extraction scheme), he thinks to himself "well, I could get hit by a speeding bus tomorrow and then this procedure will have been worthless", and it's served him well for many years. My dad takes it one step further if they still won't take a hint and he'll tell them to schedule his procedure on the 31st of February :)
I had braces and head gear in my early teenage years. I was supposed to wear the headgear at night which apparently held the top part of my jaw back so my lower jaw would play catch-up.....science.....anyways I never wore the fucken thing. Would rip it off and toss it. Every check up the orthodontist would tell my parents and I that I’m doing great work, keep it up, everything is working, and I would reply “I don’t wear it”. Dentist would cringe lolll. My dad didn’t have insurance for us and was paying thousands. I didn’t even have an obtuse overbite. It was minimal.
I had the same thing two years ago. They wanted me to go through the entire barrage of xrays and imaging, with the line "something might have changed". I just bloody had this procedure 6 months prior as the dentist which I really liked, had retired and recommended this place. I told the gal I am not paying for this again, and pretty much said, I can leave right now -- I do not need this dentist and to be frank I don't like the guy quite honestly.
I completely understand expensive equipment, I have a lot for my business. But there is a point when you have the equipment paid off and you are simply making a high profit off a low cost to you service which equates to overcharge. Yes it takes some skill to push a button ?, but honestly, I could teach a cat to take dental images, it's not precisely a high IQ skill. Xrays are such a bloated expense at dentist offices, and insurance won't always cover the cost in full much less partially. Apparently chewing food with your own teeth can be considered "cosmetic" depending on which carrier you use.
Well done. Hopefully a few of the waiting room patients were paying attention, and have half the courage as you.
My dentist is super old school and I hope he never retires. It's just him and his receptionist/helper/office worker. Just the two of them, no computer (no joke) everything old school hand written in actual paper files. I pay cash, it's inexpensive, and there is never any unnecessary procedures.
I wish I could find more businesses like that.
That happened.
No worries. That's a great point. I'm going to use it.