Pet Peeve as a Patient

Many people fear the dentist office and as a patient I understand because I have also had some not so great experiences. However, after spending time at a dentist office, as an intern, I can see how the hygienist, dental assistant, and even the doctor could over look the simple things.

            I am one of those people that if someone talks about lice I start to itch my head because all of a sudden my body thinks I have lice. The same happens when I’m told I cannot swallow. Normally, I never have the need to swallow my spit every 2 seconds until my mouth is pried open and I cannot. Sometimes I feel as if the dentist doesn’t even know that the stupid saliva ejector (or suction) isn’t the same as actually swallow my own spit. If you put the saliva ejector thing in my mouth I’m still going to feel the need to swallow and that is all I will think about and secretly hate you for not letting me do so.

            As an intern at the dentist office I started to understand why the hygienist, dental assistants, and doctors don’t always let their patients swallow. It is a simple as the “operation” they are undertaking requires their mouth to be as dry as possible. By the dental assistant putting the salvia ejector in the individual’s mouth they are trying their best to make them feel comfortable and not have the patient hate them, but at the end of the day it comes down to getting the job done.

            If the patient is constantly swallowing they have to restart which can be frustrating because they have multiple patients to attend to. They cannot spend all their time on one patient. With that being said, each and every patient means a great deal to the dentist and they want to spend the appropriate amount of time required for the job but they cannot hurt the bottom line.

            Have you ever tried to get a task done but an individual will not cooperate so you start to get upset? That is exactly how the employees at a dentist office feel, so if they start to get a tad bit short with the “open your mouth wider” or “please turn this way” they are still human. However, if anyone at the dentist office is being overly rude, everyone knows when someone has crossed the line, then it is your job, not anyone else, to confront the problem.