Possibly the worst Doctor/Patient experience of my entire life…read more
TL:DR Never asked about the issue I was having, but diagnosed me with Meniere's Disease because he has it, so I must too.
The long version-
His assistant asked me what brought me in that day. I told her I wanted to speak to the dentist about it directly, because it was a long story. She said she had to tell him... uh, ok. So I told her my bite (occlusion) and nighttime clenching were triggering migraines.
I don't know what the assistant told him, but Dr. White came in and barely said hello before he started lecturing me about migraines and how migraines are a vascular condition (it's not, nobody knows exactly what causes it yet, but currently scientists think it's neurological), not a dental one. He was the most rude, patronizing, and disrespectful person I have ever encountered. He never once asked me what my issue was, why I was there or how I felt (NOT ONCE in a two hour visit). He just told me how wrong I was for at least 20 minutes, and tried to educate me (ME! HA!) about migraines.
**Side note- I've had migraines for 40 years. I get multiple types (as most migraines sufferers do) including classic, chronic, vestibular and occipital. I've been to neurologists in 7 states and multiple hospitals and universities, had more MRIs than I can count (first one at 7, most recent last fall), tried dozens of medications, massage therapy, physical therapy, chiropractic, different diets, acupuncture, have a therapist to help me deal with chronic pain, and so much more. When you suffer from this disease, you become VERY familiar with what can trigger it and how. **
After the lecture he asked if I was dizzy, (yes) and asked if my ears would ring (yes), and then he told me I had Meniere's Disease! So now he's a neurologist AND an ENT?! If he had one single brain cell he would have asked about my other symptoms which are in no way shape or form Meniere's. He also told me that it was impossible for my mouth or jaw to cause migraines (dude, smelling a flower can trigger my migraines. Get a clue) and basically said there was no such thing as vestibular migraines, that it was definitely Meniere's. I finally got a word in and asked him to look at my teeth (after all, that's why I'm here, nitwit), because my occlusion is visibly off, even to the naked eye. He took a 1 minute look and asked me to come to his office to talk.
*I should have walked out.*
He takes me into his office and continues to talk down to me while showing me videos on his computer, like I'm five years old, for an hour. AN HOUR! Still, not asking me about my problem, just telling me what it is (how on earth do you claim to know what is causing my problem when you don't know what my problem is?).
My X-ray comes in from my other dentist (they tried to take one there, but the machine is broken) and he looks at it for a moment. He tells me it looks like I have a jaw issue and I'm probably going to need SURGERY (are you freaking kidding me right now?!), but he won't know for sure until I get a $1000 3D X-Ray. My apparent "jaw issue" that requires surgery is on the left, the issue I came in for is on the right.
I wish I would have looked at Yelp before scheduling my appointment, it would have saved me time, money and sanity. Lesson learned.