Looks like I’ll need to go again and again and again…

However, I’m not too thrilled with this dental office. I am by no means picky about dentists, I generally just pick one when I move to a new city and keep going back. But this place was.. hmm, I don’t know exactly… very flashy, very slick.

Don’t get me wrong, I have gotten bad news from dentists before and unaffordable estimates for future work, but never this expensive.

Lovely office, new and clean, with the latest technology. They really did make sure I understood which teeth had problems, what the problems were, and even what the secret codes on the estimate meant.

I just went in for a check up and cleaning. But I kinda felt like they were trying to sell me stuff. Like the products and glossy fliers they have strategically placed near the patient’s chair. The denstist kept asking if certain parts of my mouth were painful (no, I just came in for a check up not because i have any symptoms), but he kept prodding around, and if it didn’t hurt, he’d just poke harder. Then came the hygienist – first casually mentioning “are you considering having your teeth realigned?” and when that didn’t work, shifting to “it appears you grind your teeth, perhaps a might guard would help”. When I finally explained I was a student and didn’t have much money, the dentist came up with a whole bunch of “basic” work that needed to be done, like some cavities and “suspected cavities”.

So although they managed to (what’s the term?) upsell me in the beginning by getting me to pay for full xrays, by the end of it I felt like I had just walked out of a personalized infomercial.

Too phony baloney.

Now, my next problem is – having paid for these x rays, etc. My dental plan won’t cover more x rays if I go to a different dentist to get my cavities fixed… so what should I do?

I really don’t feel like giving the current dental office any more money.