It’s Monday Morning and like most Americans I’m not quite ready for the week to start. My assistant comes to my office and says, Dr. Chandler we are ready for you in the first room, your first patient is a toothache on the lower left. My assistant also informs me that the patient has several badly decayed teeth. I enter the treatment room and introduce myself, “Hi, I’m Dr. Chandler”. The patient looks me dead in the eye and says, “I just want to let you know, I HATE THE DENTIST! No offense to you Doctor, but I really hate the Dentist.” Well hello to you too!
I’m sure someone has done a study somewhere listing the most hated professions and I venture to guess that Dentists are in the top 3. Probably just below Lawyers and Proctologist. Like I said, I don’t have any data on this, I’m just guessing. Why is this? I could imagine that the fear of pain probably propels us(Dentist) to the top of the list. Maybe a bad childhood experience at the dentist. The invasion of personal space. I’m not sure. I do know that I hear the term I hate the dentist quite often. It’s almost like people think I get joy out of their fear. For the record I do not. I often ask frightened children that I treat, “Do you think when I woke up this morning I said, I can’t wait to go to work so I could hurt you?” Their response is always, No”. Then I tell them, “Give me a chance, I PROMISE I’m going to do my best to make this as easy as possible”. This usually works every time. It’s not a script, I really mean it.
That reminds me of a 4year old patient I treated recently, He spoke very little English and my Spanish isn’t that great. My assistant explained what we were going to do and we began and finished treatment in about 15minutes. Not a whimper, whine, tear, scream, yell, nothing. I was so pleased with his behavior that I gave him $5 and a toy from the treasure chest. This child was reminder of why I love dentistry. It was refreshing to know that I was able to help someone without them, “HATING”, me. While he is probably too young to appreciate the value of dentistry, I can assure you that he didn’t have a bad experience. It is my hope that this child will have a positive view of dentistry for LIFE!
I know that I personally take every measure to ensure that a patient has a pleasant experience in my office. I’m sure that 99.9% of all dentist across the country do as well. All we ask is that patients give us a chance.
What Do You Think, Why Do People “Hate” the Dentist?
Dr.Michael L. Chandler Practicing Dentistry in Edmond, Oklahoma
I hear ya. I do not generally look forward to visiting the dentist, either. Although I have to say it’s better than visiting a proctologist!
My Page onIowa City Denists!