After 15 months with traumatic injuries requiring two surgeries and immense pain, I then had to have a fractured tooth pulled. Many complications followed and as a result, I have intense anxiety around pain.
I turned to this doctor for a root canal from a Veterans Health Care referral. The VA is a 90 mile round trip for me. I was relieved to be seen close to my house.
I show up having taken 2 Xanax and accepting nitrous gas. They start the nitrous slow, and turned it up three times. I felt nothing.
I'm comfortable crying to relieve stress... But it became clear that the doctor didn't have the professional capacity to deal with a person in this situation who must relieve stress in some manner. I would tap my toes or shake two fingers against my leg to relieve stress... And each time it happened (a subconscious response on my end) he, with out compassion, and seemingly annoyed that I would be having a stress / anxiety response, sternly said to me "you must stop doing that. I'm working in millimeters." He would also dictate to me, "you know I'm here to help." However saying the words and actually behaving in a manner that's helpful are two different behaviors. I wondered how every other dentist performed their root canals on me In the last year (two of them).
Instead, I clenched my fists and cried. I tried to meet him where he was at by not moving... But I did not get reassurance from him. Perhaps he tried, but he did not meet me where I was at emotionally. My guess is he only treats people who have not experienced trauma in their pasts.
With very little communication to me, and in fact the communication he did give was interpreted by vulnerable me as condescending, the procedure was over. Except it wasn't. And he was not hiding his annoyance at how I am sensitive to pain and trauma. So now I'm sitting in the parking lot with a half completed root canal...
He let me leave upset. It's not been 20 minutes and I'm already in pain... After telling him that I need more anesthetic than the average person from the start.
This office is unable to handle you if you have any type of emotional response to pain, trauma or anxiety. There is also little time placed on understanding, and rapport building.
Front desk was pleasant, his assistant was nice, checked in on me a couple times.
Basically, this office is for patients who are having their first root canal and can deal with a calloused dentist who provides no compassion during your experience. I don't recommend any veteran or children for this offices services. read more