The Joys of Going to the Dentist......

Last Thursday I had an appointment with at the dentist's office. It was a new office that I hadn't been to before and so I was having my first "initial" appointment. They take all the x-rays and tell you what they think needs to be done and then give you an estimate of how much it will cost........

I really, I mean REALLY, didn't want to go. I don't have any particularly problem going to the dentist, but for some reason I was just really, really dreading going to this appointment. Maybe it was my woman's intuition trying to tell me something, I'm not sure.

I should have known that when I had to wait almost an hour before I was even called back that it was going to be a lousy experience. I kept telling myself that I was here, I mine-as-well just stay and finish the appointment...... But, it was frustrating sitting there waiting for so long. Here's how the visit went, keeping in mind that all I was there for was to take x-rays, have the dentist look at the x-rays and my teeth and tell me what he thought needed done. That's it, no cleaning, nothing else...............

1:45PM - I arrive for my appointment and fill out the paperwork
2:00PM - My scheduled appointment time
2:40PM - 40 minutes after my appointment was suppose to be, they called me back
They do all the x-rays, 1 panoramic, and 18 of those awful, painful, uncomfortable bite wings!!!
3:00PM - She takes me back to dentist chair, gives me my little bib and hands me the remote to the TV. I then get the typical, "the dentist will be right in to see you" bit.

During my wait in the chair, I keep having an argument with myself in my head, "You should just leave; It's ridiculous to wait this long."----- "You should just stay since it's half over; just stay and get it over with."

3 different dental technicians came in to "visit" with me while I waited, all of which, just irritated me more.......

I watched almost an entire episode of CSI before the dentist actually came in.....

3:45PM - The dentist comes in and goes over my x-rays with me and just when I think that I'm going to get done with this visit from _____, he tells me that he's just going to give some Novocaine to the patient next door and he'll be right back....OH COME ON!!!!!
4:20PM - The dentist comes back, actually looks at my teeth, tells me what he thinks needs done (it took all of about 10 minutes) and then I wait another 10 minutes while he enters everything into my record.......
4:40PM - I walk to the check-out desk and am asked to take a seat and wait some more.......I waited 5 minutes and then the man that was checking people out, left. That's was it, it was all I could take! I walked up to the desk, as politely as I could, told them that I'd been there for 3 hours now and that I wasn't waiting any longer. I told them to just mail me the estimate of my co-pay!
4:50PM - I finally leave and head home.

So, in summary, I spent 3 hours in the dentist's office so that they could take x-rays and have an initial exam form the dentist, all of which took a total of about 40 minutes! I was so irritated by the whole thing! I should have listened to my intuition and rescheduled the appointment!