I am 30 years old and still hate going to the dentist. I put off buying dental insurance for 4 years, because my anxiety goes through the roof every single time, most dental assistants in my previous experiences have been idiots, so it's never fun. However, I finally sucked it up, and made an appointment a couple years ago. Parkview was the closest dentist covered by my insurance, so we made the appointment. It was a pleasant enough experience, the first time going in. The dental hygienist was kind, explained everything I needed to know in a compassionate manner, and put my anxiety at ease, and actually made me feel heard. But the dentist I had seen that day: rude. The only thing I remembered about her was that she was a female.
Turns out, among a few fillings, I also needed my wisdom teeth removed. My appointment had been scheduled, and then COVID hit, and fortunately, they only pushed it back a month while they figured everything out.
Went back to Parkview about a month or so later for a regular cleaning, and had the same amazing hygienist, and was advised that the next big thing needed done was a root canal. They referred me to another office, and told me that the other office would be calling to make an appointment.
They never did.
I forgot, and my tooth didn't hurt, so I never called to make an appointment, either. Kept seeing the referral paperwork pop up around my home, but by this point, I didn't have the funds in my account for it, due to work closures and everything. I'll get back to it when I can afford it, and again, just forgot.
Fast forward to this past week, I got tired of food getting stuck in the cavity that needed filling (partly on the tooth that needs to be pulled, but I hadn't remembered about the root canal.) So I hiked my big girl panties up, and made another appointment for a filling.
Still not looking forward to the shots and the drilling, my anxiety was super high again, but I went.
And guess who my dentist was? The same super rude female from before. Dr. Ahmadi is condescending and demeaning and kept shaming me for not coming in sooner or having work done. She greeted me by saying "Why didn't you make the appointment with the endo before? I can't do that filling. It would be like putting a bandaid on a broken bone that has an infection. I can't do that. I can't touch that tooth, because if anything happens, then I'm liable for it."
Thanks lady, good to see you, too.
Whatever. I'm not going to ask for a different dentist today because I just want to get this taken care of and I don't want to wait longer. They put the lidocaine in, let it sit, and then came back to begin treatment, and I could feel it. So she added more. I could still feel it, but it wasn't painful, so I let it be. Then she hit something bad. Instantly started tearing up and shaking and was trying hard not to punch her out of pure reflex. "Oh, did that hurt? Here, let me put some more lidocaine in. Then we'll sit you up and let you relax for a bit."
While I know it wasn't her fault, an apology in that situation can go a long way to make your PATIENT feel better. After about another 15 minutes, my face felt like it was the size of a softball, so I had assumed I was numb enough when she came back to ask, at which point she adds "Yeah, the infection can push the lidocaine out and make it less effective, and since it's right next to it, that's probably what happened. You need to get that taken care of and get that root canal."
HOW ABOUT YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR PATIENTS AND TRY TO MAKE THEM FEEL BETTER, NOT WORSE WHEN THEY ALREADY DON'T WANT TO BE THERE.
Gave Parkview a generous 2 stars for the REST of the staff, and asked the front desk to put a note on my account to never ever EVER schedule me with her again. Hopefully the other dentists aren't as rude as she is. read more