My experience with "the dentist" since we have moved here has been a bit weird for me and I'm still trying to find a good ol' friendly family dentist like I was use to growing up.
My first experience with a dentist here was just weird and to me not normal. I had one appointment to be examined and get a treatment that I didn't necessarily need and pay a bunch for it. Then I had to come back a totally different time for the actual cleaning. I'm all about getting it done in one appointment. This saves me the inconvenience of having to figure out what to do with my kids for two different appointments. So, this first experience was not so good.
So, we found this other dentist we've been going to and though we aren't totally fond of the place I just don't know who else to go to and it's a pain to keep going through the hassle of moving from place to place and fill out new paperwork everytime. But I'm really wanting to shop around because yet again another weird and annoying experience has taken place with this office.
I called in last week to set up an appointment for me and Wayne. I went in and got a cleaning before Myer was born but since I was pregnant they didn't do x-rays. So, they told me to come back in after I had the baby so they could get x-rays. And it'd be about time for a cleaning again as well. Ooops, Myer is 10 months and I still haven't got my x-rays!
So I finally got us an appointment before the year ends. I was hoping Wayne and I could go at the same time and one of us could get our cleaning while the other stayed with the kids in the waiting room and vice versu. It'd be more convenient for me that way. Another pain for me with getting any type of appt. for myself is trying to figure out what to do with the kids while I go. So, this was my solution.
I was talking to the receptionist to set up the appointments. To make sure my plan would work I asked if they'd just be taking one of us back at a time. To which she informed me that they only see one person in a family per day. WHAT! You have got to be kidding me. I seriously was taken back and thought that was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. Is that normal or can someone explain any reason for that? Completely silly to me.
So, I set up our appts. on different days. The annoying thing is they could get the other one in right the next day. But that is not what I wanted. So frustrating. Has anyone had these weird experiences where your office does things like this that just don't make sense?
Well, I just had to rant a bit about this and if anyone that lives in my area can recommend a good dentist that has "normal" procedures please let me know.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Is this normal?
Posted by Erin at 9:08 PM
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7 comments:
I too think that having to go for the initial exam and then going BACK for the cleaning is such a pain. I went to the dentist recently and that is what they did, and Lance just went (to a different place) and they did it that way too. Must be new standard procedure in the dental world.
As far as the part about not being able to see members of the same family in the same day, that is odd, and made me laugh out loud! How strange. Maybe that had a bad experience with it before, who knows? I can definitely see your frustration.
I think the worst office experience I ever had was when I first moved here I made an appt and thought I wrote it down correctly. Either I didn't, or the woman told me wrong because I showed up and they didn't have down. Ok a mistake, that happens. But then she told me she'd help me and figure it out. I sat in the waiting room and heard her whispering, "What should I do with her?" Then I kept waiting and finally went and asked. Basically she was just going to ignore me. It was the worst office visit I ever had. But on the flipside, since I was in the area I found a music shoppe and bought the coolest arrangement/duet of O holy night. We sang it last year and will sing it again. Compensatory blessings!
Love you story, thanks for sharing.
Call back and fake that you two aren't related...then maybe you can get your appt. the same day! He he! Seriously though, that is very inconvenient and sounds like a stupid policy!!! I would keep shopping around!
That is really weird about the same day family appt. thing. I think we might have gone to the same crazy dentist. I think Lana told me you had a bad experience too. Was is with "Dr." Simona Cuevas!? They tried to sell me that line that they had to do the extra cleaning as well, I said yeah right, especially after they'd only looked at my teeth for less than 5 minutes.
I really like my dentist now though. Which dental plan do you have? Delta or Aetna (HMO)? Paul and I really hoped to find a good one on Aetna b/c it's so much cheaper, and luckily we have (the Daltons told us about him). His name is Dr. Abate. I've had a lot of work done with them and have really enjoyed their staff. I think I've even seen family members having appointments on the same day! (gasp!) Here's his info:
Abate, Curtis Guy, DDS
Monarch Dental - Bandera Oaks - GP General Practice
11398 Bandera Road
Suite 106
San Antonio, TX 78250
(210) 433-1400
Accepting New Patients - Please call provider's office to confirm.
Good luck!
You have such wonderful stories. We go to Dr. Abate as well, and he's pretty good. My only complaint is that they haven't upgraded to panoramic x-rays yet, so it still takes forever to get them done (especially if you have all 32 teeth like me!). Otherwise, the place is nice.
We had a horrible dental experience when we first got here, but we like our dentist now. It's Dr. Brent Wall and he is located on Braun road. We just found out that there is a dentist in our ward and he just opened up a new place across the highway from us. His place is Ash dental. I don't know if he takes our insurance or not though, I haven't looked into it. That is so weird they wouldn't take you both in on the same day. I wonder what their logic is behind that.
Oh my goodness, I just read Michelle's comment. Was your first dentist dr. Cuevas? Yikes, if so, that was ours to. That was a HORRIBLE experience!
Thanks for the suggestions gals on a new dentist. I'll have to look into switching over. Maybe after this appt. since it is so close to the end of the year and I want to get a visit in before then. And yes, the Dr. you are referring to Lana and Michelle, is the same crazy lady I saw. I think I was the only one that got sucked into her "treatment" because I didn't have the guts to say "Take a hike, you're crazy!" Did she recommend this depridement (spelling?) treatment for you as well? Sounds like she did for Michelle. Just crazy. It's kinda funny how so many of us tried her out when we first got her. But it sounds like I'm not totally crazy since you all had a similiar bad experience.
Yep! That doesn't seem normal. And certainly your friend Amy should not have heard a front office person talking about her without saying anything. Whatever happened to customer service. Hummm! Well I should hope that that isn't standard. I don't know why they wouldn't see 2 family members on the same day unless they are just trying to prevent families from being in the waiting room with kids. But hte first visit thing could be just to get an initial consult, but why the unneccesary procedures? I don't know, sounds like a pain. You might could try looking up a dentist that is a member of Pierre Fauchard Academy or American Academy of General Dentistry. You can't be a member without having certain qualifications and some even have to be nominated by another member. I would also ask lots of questions to the receptionist about their philosophy and how they treat families (since that would be important to you) It would save you from having to fill out paperwork and jump from one dentist to another. Of course it is so much easier to find a referal from someone you trust. If you have a great doctor, you might could ask him if he knows a good dentist. Good luck! Very cute pictures by the way!
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