Sometimes they just don’t get it
One of the drugs I take makes me bleed very easily, even more so now that the dosage has been increased. This was a problem at my dental cleaning today.
My gums bled when the hygienist probed my teeth. She thought was odd because I had no tarter build up, so I told her it was just my meds. She picked up my chart and read down the list of my prescriptions.
“What are these for?”
Bipolar, I told her.
“Oh. Can’t you have your doctor reduce your dose so your gums don’t bleed?”
No.
“How about if you change drugs? That would help.”
No.
“Well, this is just … messy.”
I don’t think I’m going back again.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I hate changing dentists…. I’d suggest speaking to the Dentist and pointing out that having hygienists make medical recommendations is, from a liability standpoint, dumb as dirt.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I had a hygienist once tell me “she wasn’t descended from no ape” so “dumb as dirt” seemed to fit her.
That’s just … unprofessional, Terry.
February 26th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Right now I don’t want to go back to any dentist.
The whole thing was humiliating. All I could think of was getting out of there and never going back.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Write a letter then, and explain to the dentist why they lost your business. I don’t want to seem pushy, but I hate to see idiots get away with it.
Had a genetics counselor once who couldn’t tell the difference between genes and recessive and dominant traits…. Freaked us out until we realized how wrong she was, but her response to our correction? “Well, if that’s what you need to believe to feel better….”
February 27th, 2008 at 11:55 am
You’re not being pushy, A - just supportive. And I thank you. I’m still shaken up over this, but I’ll think about it.
How in the world did someone get to be a genetics counselor without knowing that difference?? That seems like a dangerous situation to me; people are making decisions based on what she tells them, and if she’s skewing the odds with her misunderstandings, that could affect those decisions. I’m glad you were able to sort through it for the information you needed.