Hawk’s Online Reviews: My Terrible Dentist

[A note about Hawk’s Online Reviews: I don’t do “star” ratings.  Just read the review, and then you can decide if I have described a 4 out of 5 star situation, a 1 out of 5 star situation, or whatever you think.  Another note:  I don’t name the dentist in my review.  I simply need you to know that there is a bad dentist out there.  If you feel a burning desire to know this bad dentist’s name, please feel free to reach out to me personally via Facebook, Twitter, email, or phone.]

It’s time for me to switch to another dentist.  I’ve been going to this one for two years.  What was the last straw?  

It was when he said he found a cavity.  I don’t believe him.  I’m never going back.

Am I just being a baby because he told me I have a cavity?  No, I’m not.  

Listen— he only “happened” to find this cavity after I repeatedly refused to buy a take-home “sleep study kit” from him.  He said I needed to buy this sleep study kit in order to find out if I have sleep apnea. 

He wasn’t sure if my insurance would cover the cost of the kit. This almost certainly means that my insurance WON’T cover it. 

Why does he think I need to do a sleep study to check for sleep apnea?  My first time at his office, he went through a verbal “questionnaire” with me, and the first questions was, “Do you snore at night?”  I do.  None of the subsequent four or five questions applied to me.  But I do snore.   

At first, I told him I’d think about it and let him know at the next checkup if I wanted to do the sleep study.  He never explained to me why a dentist would be worried about my sleep.  I guess he said he could make me some kind of mouth guard to wear at night.  But I’d have to pay for the sleep study first.  

He kept asking about it at later visits.  “You said you snore, right?”  

Finally, I just said no thank you.  I’m good.  I’m not going to buy the sleep study kit.

That’s when he found the cavity.  

I’ve never had a cavity in my life.  

On the x-ray, he pointed out a back molar.  He showed me a “little spot” on the very back of it that he was “concerned” about.  This tooth has never caused me pain, sensitivity, or any problems whatsoever. 

We then looked at the x-ray from the year before.  The spot looked exactly the same.  Funny, he didn’t say anything about it back then! 

Now, he wanted to take a closer look at the spot.  He peered into my mouth with a mirror and a metal probe. He started to use the probe to poke around at the tooth in question.  

He said, “Does this bother you?”

It didn’t.

He said, “When there’s decay, the tool usually sticks on that spot.  The tool is not sticking on this spot.”

He kept trying to get the probe to “stick” on that spot.  He started scraping really hard.  The metal probe started to jam into my gums a little bit. 

I think he was waiting for me to say, “It hurts.” 

Then I imagine he’d say, “See, there IS a problem with that tooth.”  

But I didn’t make a peep.  He finally stopped.

I looked at the time on my cell phone and told him I needed to go pick up my son at school.  The hygienist had already done my cleaning and this was the end of the appointment. 

He said, “Oh, we’re not going to do anything with it today.  We’ll schedule another appointment a few weeks out.”

I got up to leave.  I asked, “Are we just going to check on that tooth next time I come in for a cleaning and we’ll see how it looks?”

As he walked me out to the reception area, he said, “Oh no, we’re definitely going to fill that tooth.  It needs to be filled.  I just wasn’t sure if we need to drill in the normal spot or if we also need to drill into that spot we were looking at on the back of the tooth.  We might have to drill in just one place, or in two.  I’m going to send your x-ray to a colleague of mine and get his opinion on that.  But the receptionist will set up your appointment for the filling.”

I told the receptionist I’d have to look at my calendar and call her later to set up a time.  Then I left. 

I thought, okay, when we were looking at the x-ray, there was “concern” about an area on that tooth.  Then, when we were no longer looking at the x-ray and I was walking out the door, he said it’s “definitely” going to need to be filled?  And not just drilled in one place, but possibly in two?

It was quite a weird leap of logic.  

He has mentioned to me that he just got out of dental school, returned to his hometown to set up his own practice, and bought a house.  He and his wife just had a baby and he has school loans to pay back.  

I’d honestly love to help him out, but not at the risk of getting unnecessary work done on my teeth.  

I’d love to help him out, but I’d also love to be able to trust my medical care providers.  

I have decided that it’s time to switch to another dentist.  This has been my story.  Thank you for reading.    

[Final note: I’m not against all dentists. Every dentist I’ve seen up until this one has been exemplary.  That’s part of the reason I’m able to identify this dentist as bad-- because I’ve had so many good ones prior.  Final final note:  If after all this, you are siding with the dentist over me—great!  Perfectly understandable.  Be sure to get in touch with me so I can send you his info and you can make him your new dentist!]