I went back for a consultation. My spouse had an appointment after mine. As a high risk patient for COVID-19, I don't go anywhere that doesn't agree over the phone to have every person who comes into the procedure room wearing a respirator (N95 or KN95) on before they open the door. If I'm sitting there maskless, I can't protect myself by wearing a respirator, so I need others to do so. The person I spoke with on the phone said they'd do that: everyone who came in the room would be wearing a N95.
One thing to remember is, with an airborne virus, the danger isn't just when in the room with someone who is not masked, but after that person has been breathing in the room, as well. The pathogen stays in the air from 20 minutes to several hours, depending on the air exchange and whether or not there is a HEPA air filter. Most dental practices I've been to since 2020 have HEPA filters in every room. This practice doesn't.
We got called in by a young woman without any PPE - not even a useless "surgical" mask that tests have shown are not effective against airborne virus, specifically not against COVID-19 transmission. I asked her politely to put a N95 on before going to the procedure room. She said she would, told us to enter the room, and came in behind us, unmasked. I again told her I didn't want to be in the room after she came in breathing into the air I'd have to be in maskless, and she was officious, bossy, authoritarian, and talked to me as if I were a naughty child, ordering me to "SIT HERE I SAID!" She came back with a crappy gappy non-PPE mask, not a N95, with her exhaled air going into the room air from the huge gaps in the sides and top. Again with the SIT NOW! I asked her to leave and get an N95. She just said "SIT!!!!!"
I refused, said to my husband that we wouldn't be safe there . This employee acted like a mean toddler with a stick. She said she had to get our BPs and again ordered me to SIT NOW!
At that point my husband said to me to get out of the room (even though of course we're still wearing our well-sealed N95s). When I went to the desk, an employee up front said, "we WERE told everyone going into that room had to wear an N95" as I explained that I was not comfortable and would have to leave. Meanwhile, as my husband explained, he told her she needed to wear an N95 around either of us, as he is also very high risk. She claimed she didn't wear them at this practice because "they are too expensive". He offered to go to the car and get her a bag of new sealed N95s, and she refused, saying she wouldn't wear one. He told her to leave the room, and came to the desk where he told the others what had happened, how this kid was so nasty and bossy that she should never be allowed to talk to patients at all: she's the antithesis of patient-centered, but seems to be ego-driven, not good for anyone working with patients.
After awhile, enough time to have cleared the room air via air exchange, we were told Dr Leone would see us and the girl wouldn't come back into the room. We got the best consults ever. Dr Leone always wears a N95 with patients. He's kind, and is a born teacher. Unfortunately we decided not to come back, because of that employee who makes it unsafe. If she can't even protect someone so simply by putting a N95 on, what else would she do, if she were the dental assistant? That kind of person we don't want to be near, even though Dr Leone is one of the best oral surgeons we know. Disappointing that one bad apple spoiled the whole. read more
