Open letter to the health professionals: Dentists of my past and present

Dear Dentists,

There are four of you I'm thinking about. The first, my childhood dentist, you were good. I liked you and I never feared you and I felt you did you're job and explained to me what was happening without condescension. On the whole I view our experience together as positive. But one day when I was 20 or so you gave me a filling, you told me the drilling would not be extensive and that I probably didn't need an anaesthetic. And I trusted you. I don't think that you lied, you just didn't know the truth. And that experience was one of the worst of my life. The most painful. When I left I cried and cried. Oh god it was painful and so traumatic.

And then your daughter went into dentistry. I saw her once in your absence. Dentist's Daughter, do you remember? My wisdom teeth had been giving me so much pain, you looked at my X-rays and said 'I'll just pull them out now." I told you no, I had to go to work in a couple of hours, I didn't want teeth removed. You promised it would be ok and I really had to fight you, 'No! I don't want my teeth removed, I don't want to go to work numb mouthed or worse.' Finally I won and when your dad saw my X-rays he said, 'I can't remove these, you definitely need a orthodontic surgeon,' You could have butchered me, turned me into a lifetime drooler. Your poor patients.

Next a man who just shoved and jammed and pulled and prodded in my mouth, no warning or description of what he was doing what would happen next. I left you too after a couple of visits.

And now dentist, my dentist of today, I have to leave you too. You speak to my 7-year-old as if he was a baby. You don't give us advice on how to look after teeth. You tell the kids, 'There's nothing you can do to prevent this decay', despite me directly asking you what should they do. Here is a clue, I'm asking you to use your authority to make them look after their teeth. When you worked on my 3-year-old's teeth you rushed and yelled at your assistant, a bitch to her and a terror to my son. I can't see you anymore.

Oh, dentists. Hated and feared, why don't you try harder. To help, to make people feel comfortable, safe, pain-free. Are those thousands of dollars you are getting by the hour enough? Do you not care that you are hated? Do those dollars blind you to the fact your patients are people? Why, Dentist, why do you treat us so bad?!

Dentist, just because you smile and are genki doesn't mean your bedside manner is good. You gonna shove a bunch of cotton wool in my mouth? I want warning! Gonna stretch my mouth wide? A heads-up would be nice. How about a little information. How about a little less condescension?

Oh Dentist, you are a necessary evil. But I'm finding a new one. You four, you're rubbish!

Love
J