Hi Bryanna

Thanks for your explanation. This woman dentist had what I termed an "abrupt" personality, she had been off sick with cancer for three months after I was with her for six months, I always felt she had no time for explaining. I felt more and more ill at ease with her. She suggested I have the pocket-cleaning done, because she was going to redo all my fillings. They are 25 years old and, incidentally, have been put there by students, including a solid gold crown (chunck of gold screwed in on the inside, then a crown on top) and 3 normal gold crowns. I only had a minor filling and one root canal on one of the crowns since.

Anyway this dentist said the pockets around some were too deep, redoing the fillings wasn't going to be worth it. But they did not bother me! They did not need root canals. And I did not want them pulled. If she did not want to redo them, all she had to do was say so. She refilled three molars, including the small one, in one quadrant, right before pulling the sore one in the back after all this pressure. This small one was way too high. I went back and she took some off. It was still way too high. I was upset enough to go to a different dentist for a second opinion. I told him quite clearly in the beginning that I did not want him communicating with her. Okay, he said. Than during the questions he still wanted her name. He told me she had done everything correctly. Then at the end I told him once more I did not want him contacting her. He promised once more. A few days later I was called by the lady dentist, telling me she had received a phone call from him, but she had been too busy to talk to him at the time. She told me she encourages second opinions, to take away any doubts because it makes her work easier. I appreciated her honesty in letting me know he called as opposed to his sneakiness and downright violation of the code.

Nevertheless I searched for another dentist. I found one who makes me feel completely at ease, and like I understand all he says, and the why of things. I concluded that maybe she did right, maybe not, in any case she seems to have done what she believed to be right, but her and me = bad combination personality-wise at least. I think feeling at ease with your dentist and being able to communicate is just as valid a reason as whether the work itself is good or not. I have told her this in a way that was not attacking her and she appreciated me letting her know this.