Things Dr. Perlman thinks he needs to tell you:
1. He has been in business for 30 years.
2. He knows when a patient is in pain or not.
3. He will never use nitrous for certain procedures because it "isn't necessary." (He said this several times, emphatically.)
4. The definition of "quadrant."
5. If you don't make payments, the credit company will get mad at you.
6. Your teeth are in bad shape.
7. He said he was sorry like 12 times, okay?!
Important Points to be aware of:
1. He does not have an in-house lab, so if he has to do so much as a crown, he will send you to another dentist to get the crown made. Any partials or implants will be made by a different dentist. He would not say what dentist he uses for these things, but he did say, more than once, "You will have to establish a trust relationship with the other dentist, too."
2. He does not have an in-house financing program.
3. He does not take any insurance at all.
Personal story:
I told him I am an anxious patient. He said he didn't want to make me uncomfortable, but then he went right ahead and did it anyway. He pushed me past my comfort zone during the exam and then said he wanted to check the depth of the pockets in my gums. As soon as the probe went between my gum and my tooth, I had an anxious reaction. As soon as I had the anxious reaction, he stopped and said, "Well, if you are going to act like that for every tooth, we might as well stop now." The harshness of his tone pushed me right over into tears. He said something to the nurse, then left the room without a word to me. (I did not sob aloud or anything, just quietly teared up while I tried to stop feeling upset.)
The nurse left for a few minutes also, so I had some time to pull myself back together. She came back and took me to the x-ray machine. By the time we were done there, I was reasonably recovered. When the dentist returned to the room, I reminded him that I am a very nervous patient because of 53 years of angry dentists. He replied, "I said I was sorry 7 times." (He hadn't.) I told him that I understand that it is not fair to him because he is not the dentist that caused my anxiety, but I do have anxiety. Later in the conversation, when he asked me if I had any concerns, I suggested that he seemed impatient when he was telling me what was wrong with my mouth and what he might be able to do, he said, "I said I was sorry like 12 times, okay?"
I tried to tell him that he would be able to check the pocket depth for my teeth/gums in my next visit, when I am under nitrous. He said no. He wasn't going to use nitrous for that procedure. Then he continued to say no for several more sentences. Later in the conversation, he said he could check pocket depth when he has me numbed up for a cleaning; when I told him that was what I had just said, he said that would be a different appointment, not today's appointment. He would never use nitrous on a first visit. I told him that I never asked him to use nitrous for the first visit. This is when he said that he has been in business for 30 years, and he knows when someone is in pain or not.
He also told me, more than once, that he does not know me, so he doesn't know what I mean when I say things. He said again that he had been in business for 30 years.
When he was telling me about what he had found during the part of the examination we were able to complete, he told me all about the problems that I have as if it were brand new information that I had not already told him before the x-rays and exam proved me correct. He told me these things with the impatient tone of a parent who is listing his child's most recent transgressions.
He kept saying, "We can do a debridement, but that is the absolute least we can do for you." I don't know why he kept insisting on telling me the least he could possibly do. I wanted to know the most he could do, but he insisted on telling me the least he could do. This is also when he said they do the debridement two quadrants at a time. Then he wanted to explain what a quadrant is.
I asked about financing. I told him that although I do not have a lot of money, I do have good credit, and his website indicated that he had in-house financing. He said they do not have in-house financing. It is through a 3rd party, and I would have to apply for it. I said that should not be a problem because I have good credit. He said that if I don't make the payments on time, they will really come after me. I told him again, "I know how credit works. I have good credit. Every card company gets upset if you make late payments." He wanted to be sure that I fully understood this complicated concept about late payments.
The entire conversation felt like a wrestling match. He seemed very defensive, and I felt I had to constantly reassure and encourage him. He wasted time explaining things that I had already established I understood.
Bottom line: He made it quite clear that he is not there to make the patient feel comfortable or safe. read more
