Recent News
Stop Hatin’ on Your Dentist
According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA), 1 in 4 dentists have experienced physical aggressions by patients and more than half have been verbally assaulted to some degree. I’m sorry, but WHAT? I get it people, nobody likes the dentist and it isn’t your favorite place to go, however human decency is *STILL* a thing! Resorting to abusive microaggressions and taking your angst out on your healthcare provider is NEVER the answer. Take a deep breath, eat a Snickers next time, and Chill!
Can’t Charge for COVID
Despite COVID-19 continuing to take many tolls on our lives and make the practice of dentistry more and more difficult, you can’t accommodate for such burdens by offloading financial stressors onto your patients. Dental and medical practices are seeing higher costs after implementing new infection control protocols and expanded use of personal protective equipment to protect against COVID-19, and some are adding a “COVID Fee” to patients’ bills. The New York Times reports some patients object to what the story called “surprise” COVID or PPE fees, and some state attorneys general are investigating whether such fees violate consumer protection laws. So like, yea, we get it sucks that we need to accomodate for such and still pay the costs. But you know what sucks more? Potentially getting sued by a patient or state for doing such and then fronting an even BIGGER bill. Just *don’t* do it!
Entertainment
UNTOLD STORIES OF BOB & JEAN
Real patients, real stories, fake names.
Bob was an interesting patient to say the least. The kind where they always show up late for appointments and claim to never have the financial means for treatment yet talk about vacations they’re going on. *I’m still rolling my eyes thinking about it.* Anyway, I was redoing a crown for Bob and due to his inability to allow me to utilize the full length of our appointments what should have taken maybe 3 appointments took more like 7. I explicitly would always tell him, “Remember, if the temporary comes off be sure to call me so I can get you back in to recement it.” He’d acknowledge and say he understood but low and behold EVERY TIME he came in for another appointment the temporary would be off and I’d be like, “Why didn’t you come in sooner?” He’d shrug it off, claiming he was too busy. The real kicker for me though was on crown delivery day he comes in, temporary in hand, and holding a 7-Eleven Super Big Gulp just chugging away on a big ‘ole Coca-Cola. I took a deep breath, bit my tongue, and just carried on because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Pearls
Amalgam Crunch
What’s the worst feeling in the world? I agree, that moment when you go to check the occlusion on your Class II amalgam and the patient chomps down breaking the marginal ridge and box. It *literally* sends shivers down my spine. Next time you’re doing a big Class II amalgam or build-up, before removing the tofflemire and rubber dam, take your IPC (Interproximal Carver if ya don’t know) and completely level the ridge to the same height as the neighboring teeth. Sure it might mean extra work to re-carve your anatomy, but that’s more manageable than redoing the entire restoration.
meme of the week
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