OMG! I just got a verbal "financial" responsibilty smkdown from DA. Updated post 50

[fakereadhed]

I would have told her, "What do you think this is, the DISboards?!!!"


Seriously, glad it all worked out! Hopefully the new gal will learn to be professional or find a new job.

 

[mrsklamc]

I don't think a person's career choice or job position is privileged information. At least the manager is honest about the fact that this girl may not be the right person for the job, because it's not the job she wanted, or in her mind entitled to.

It's not privileged information, but it's kind of gossipy to repeat to a patient. It's nowhere near the gross level of rude, not to mention illegal behavior of the new girl.

 

[ceecee]

THat is great they are on top of things. I suspect she won't be working there long . If she paid money to go to school and STILL doesn't know the difference between assistant and hygenist then I stand by calling her a TWIT and would add IDIOT to that lol. That office needs to run her out the door as fast as they can.

SO TRUE! Hygiene school is 2-4 years compared to most assisting programs are 9 mos.
We have a patient that has owed $90 for 18 months, our receptionist asked her to pay her balance before we could do the cleanings they were scheduling and she said "well, I can pay $20 but we're going to Disney World next week and need the $ for that" We had to laugh, but seriously if you can't afford $90 rethink your vacation. Oh and she just bought a new SUV as well!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I agree - you absolutely need to speak to your dentist about his rude employee. She needs some serious re-training.

 

[brymolmom]

I suspect it's a fad to get money out of unsuspecting patients. I didn't have my wisdom teeth in when I had braces at 12-14. They came in a few years after that. That was when the dentist started pressuring me to have them removed. I refused. Every yearly check-up, the dentist asked. I said, are they going to grow anymore (it's been 20 years since they first came in). Dentist said no. They I am told horror stories about how I could lose my molars because of the impaction and leaving some space for bacteria, etc. to grow. I get my teeth checked and cleaned every 6 months. If something really bad happens to them or the surrounding teeth, THEN I will get them removed. Tthey aren't growing anymore, they are close to the molars but not quite hitting them and are still underneath the bone/jaw so they don't pop out over the gums.

That is your choice for your own mouth and that is fine, however, many dentists recommend this and even tho patients might opt not to do it - it is NOT because of a fad to get money from patients. It is oftentimes a very valid preventative treatment. My mom was an Oral Surgeon's assistant for 25 years and you wouldn't believe the cases she saw....

The crux of it is, even tho you say you'll have it taken care of if there are problems...well, it is too late to easily take care of problems. Due to the way the wisdom teeth are located and where their roots take hold, it is way more 'major' surgery into adulthood and often you are left with permanent numbness in your mouth afterward.

If it was going to put a family heavily into debt I would rethink it and I guess maybe take the risk, but otherwise I stand behind dentists' recommendations to have them out at a young age.

 

[chris1gill]

I haven't read all the responses, but DS has to have his impacted wisdom teeth out, he's having an oral surgeon do it. I'd be very concerned about 1. Having a general dentist do it and 2. they thought "Hey let's do it today" for all they know your son has sports for the rest of the week! They don't know his schedule or yours for that matter. It's not as simple as it sounds, and if you are doing two teeth, might as well do the four, it's the same price just about!

Wow... I'd lodge a complaint for sure and I'd ask for a referral to an oral surgeon... I'm sorry

 

[college_student]

I took my son and my niece for their routine 6 month dental checkup this morning. We've been patients at their dentist for over 10 years. the entire family goes. Anyhoo, I drop kids off, sitting in the waiting room chatting about Disney with 2 of the ladies who are also going this year.

Kids come out and the new dental assistant says Josh (my son) has 2 impacted wisdom teeth that should be removed. I said ok, ask a few pertinent questions like are they hurting him? who will do the surgery? etc etc.

New girl ask "do you want me to call and schedule the procedure today"? I said no, I want to check with my insurance and see what's covered, I'll call back.

She said to me, "humph, people have money to go to disneyworld but don't have money to get their kids teeth fix"!!

Holy Crap!! I'm sorry to say I simple frooze, actually every one did. we couldn't believe she said that. I couldn't think of a thing to say. I'm still stunned (my appointment was a 9:30 this morning).

The other girl who I see all the time quickly defused the situation but believe me, I will be calling and lodging a complaint. I know I should have spoken up then and there, I was just really shocked. WoW!!

Complain to her boss.

Shocking!

 

[C.Ann]

I actually did not have to call. The dentist office called almost immediately after and left a message to please call. Like I said, there were 2 older assistants in the office and they were just as mortified.

#1. Evidently new gal did not do her job, she was supposed to tell me the teeth may be impacted and that the dentist would be out in a few minutes to explain. She never got that far, only far enough to make the rude comment.

2) Other, older assitants must have ripped her a new one. When I called back and said who I was every one immediately began apologizing and put me on hold to talk with Jill the office manager. Jill, the office manager said that I can expect a formal letter of apology and wanted to know if I wanted to speak with the Dr. I said no, that I had full faith that she (Jill) had things well in hand with her staff.

3) evidently the young lady has a chip on her shoulder because she went to one of those "technical" schools that you see advertised on tv. She claims that she was told her certificate would enable her to do more and make more money. When she got the job she found out that what she actually wanted to be was a dental Hygenist which from what I gathered is more training. I'm not in the field so I gather there is a difference.

Thanks for all the clever, snappy come backs. I'll be seeing new girl again if she last that long.

I do want to say, that I am glad that I didn't cause a big argument in the office, so maybe my shock was a good thing. I would not wish unemployment on anyone but as another poster pointed out if I own a business I would want to know if my staff was running around insulting people.

I'm so glad that you received a satisfactory resolution to this situation.. When I read your initial post, I could hardly believe my eyes!

I wonder if she'll still be employed there when you return? That was a pretty big "no-no"..

 

[sookie]

I've got two comments...

1) I had my wisdom teeth out on my own at age 20. I had braces and a lot of work done, my wisdom teeth were starting to move around, and I did not want to mess up all the great work my orthodontist did.

2) I had something similar happen to me. I have been going to the same dental practice since I was 8, and I bring my own children there. My own daughter has a life threatening peanut allergy that we have delt with since she was approximately 1 and 1/2 years old. This occured when she was approximately 5 years of age. This is a family dental practice, but they always stay up to date and they are very state of the art.

My daughter had a routine cleaning appointment, and when we arrived we saw that we had a new hygenist. When I told her that my daughter was not allergic to any drugs but had a food allergy to peanuts, our visit went completely went off course. She told me about all the things her children were allergic to - and I just smiled and nodded. She stated gluten, and a couple of other foods - none that cause anaphylaxis or serious health problems. But she just stared to rant.

Whatever, I don't care - clean my child's teeth. Then, she began to ask if I let my daughter go to regular school. I stated yes. She asked if I made her eat separately, in another room, from all the other children in kindergarten or if I allowed her in a regular classroom, etc. I explained to her that I did let her go to regular school, that I let her eat in the cafeteria, but that my daughter had a peanut free classroom and that she was monitored closely by staff and that all the staff are epi-pen trained.

She then begins to comments about how I must not want my daughter to live and that I was putting her at severe risk because I allowed her to go to regular school. She also told me that I should not be letting her "step foot" in a cafeteria, and that she makes her children eat in "the teachers lounge" because she can't let her kids eat regular food or be around it - it all had to be "gluten free".

I just looked at her, and I told her that I was a nurse, and that I could safely decide how to parent my child. I also stated that I felt that I had done everything needed to ensure that my daughter was safe. I also let her know that my daughter had never once had an episode of anaphylaxis at school.

Surprisingly, at about that time my regular hygenist stepped in and made a comment about coming in and finishing up with my daughter. She is my favorite and has been there for many years, and always takes care of my family and me especially. I was relieved. Before I left that day, I left explicit instructions at the front desk to never, ever schedule me again with the hygenist that had just worked on my daughter. I also told them that in the future, I wanted all of us to only be scheduled with hygenist XYZ.

I never did complain explictly about what she said to me. I was upset, but also hurt because she basically said I was a bad parent.

The next time we came back - just a few days later - I was apologized to by the offending hygenist and the dentist who was the owner of the practice. The next time my husband came back (he has every 3 month cleanings) - she was gone. Just gone. Not sure if she was fired or not but I never asked.

It's been about 6 years, and they still ask all my family members if we will only see hygenist XYZ! I told them no - we can go with anyone but we prefer our routine hygenist! But it is nice that they made a note and still remember.