When Was Your Last Visit To The DENTIST?

[arwalden]

Poll question: When Was Your Last Visit To The DENTIST?

And how often do you go?

I truly hate the dentist... well not so much the dentists as the HYGENIST! The whole experience is unpleasant. It's been about 3 or 4 years since my last visit.

-- Allen

P.S. Oo oo in enis an ee uueraa aah ee aa en ee uun-uh ii ow ow oh aan uu oo o oo?

(Do you think dentists can REALLY understand what we say when we mumble with our mouths open and stuffed full of cotton?)

[La_Serpiente]

1. December

n/t

[izzie]

3. Well cheer up when I grew up most people did not go

One other girl and my sister and I went on a regular thing , in our school, and we were teased about it. You know how kids are and most adult said why bother they are just baby teeth. We went to a women dentist at that. Unheard of in 30's and 40's . But then I still have all my teeth but the wisdom, so I think it paid. I also never had a tooth that drove me to drink with pain as I have seen some people. I like what dentist have done. It is so different than when we were kids and these kids have such nice teeth.I still hate to go. Never get over that,I guess.

[terrya]

2. 6 months ago.

I go every 6 months. My dentist is very scrupulous about getting me in the office twice a year.

Terry

[maddezmom]

4. every 4 mos for a cleaning :)

[Kellanved]

5. three hours ago

Don't ask ;-(;

Well do, if you have to.
Wasn't too bad - just the usual "go to the Hygenist, see you again in six months".



Edit: corrected the time; it isn't as late as I thought.

[Bronco69]

6. Two months ago.

I have to go every three months for a cleaning. I'm a smoker and it's very bad on my teeth.

[wantnobush]

7. I go

every 6 months

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. With a basic checkup costing $50

and a cleaning an extra $90, I can't afford to go to the dentist very often.

[Lindsey]

9. I have had horrible teeth due to my genes

and have literally had to spend thousands upon thousdands of dollars on my teeth. At least now they look pretty good. I've had bridges, root canals, of course typical fillings, and even oral surgery where they had to put me under when a root canal failed - twice! I just had a cap put on last week. I still need one more bridge and them I'm going to be changing two caps I have now from silver to porcelain (since silver is supposed to be really bad). Oh yea, my two front teeth started just kind of barely chipping at the bottom (this was several years ago) so I had to get them bonded. My god - I could f'ing own a house on the ocean for what I've paid! Thank God I have and awesome dentist. Oh yea, dental insurance in this country is basically worthless for major work. There, I ranted! (sorry).

[KCDem]

12. yup, that's my excuse, too

I picked somewhere in the 6-10 year category.

[beyurslf]

10. August. I am waiting on my new dental card to go to the new dentist.

Probably be March.

[Edge]

11. about two years ago.

I just can't afford to make regular checkups.

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. Last time in was two weeks ago

I go every four months for cleaning.

In the last 1.5 years or so, though, I've averaged one visit every two weeks, due to a couple root canals, a tooth pulled out, a bridge put in, and one minor infection in my gums, and one cracked tooth that had to be replaced.

Thankfully, that's all over with. Whew!! It was a rough 1.5 years, tooth-wise.

[TheMightyFavog]

14. I got great teeth.

I very rarley brush, I've eaten a lot of sugary and acidic foods all my life, I haven't been to the dentist in three years, and I can proudly say that I have never ever had a cavity in my entire life!

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. 6 months ago. I only know this because our next appointment is

on the 19th of this month.

:scared:

[non sociopath skin]

16. My dental hygenist cancelled on me this week ..

.. she's away from work with a broken finger! (Can't help thinking there's some kind of poetic justice at work here):shrug:

I have a dental checkup every six months.

The Skin

[fudge stripe cookays]

17. In about an hour and a half, actually.

I love my dentist. I lucked out finding him just picking his name off the plan by eenie-meenie. Usually I'm not that lucky.

[elfwitch]

18. Who can afford it?

I don't have dental insurance and even a cleaning would break my bank account.

[amazona]

20. dental insurance is without value to my knowledge

You can negotiate yourself to get the price down as much as the insurance supposedly covers (usually around 50 percent or less than cost). There are a lot of dentists around these days so I'm amazed that so many people allow dentists to do whatever they like without checking prices or getting quotes from their competitors. Me, I am blessed with good teeth and go about once a decade -- it's all I've ever needed. By the way if you just need a cleaning it's $20 or $25 in Tijuana. I had several old mercury fillings replaced, a broken tooth repaired, etc. a few months ago for very low cost down there.

[BigMcLargehuge]

19. for the last eight years I've been fortunate enough to have two of

arguably the greatest dentists on Earth bring my mouth back from the bring of doom. Both were gentle, fast, congenial, funny, caring, and understanding when it came to having a balance to pay down.

The first of the two recently retired and sold his practice to the guy who is now my dentist.

Great people. Now I look forward to visiting them for cleanings and checkups.

[Az]

21. Mine is a special case

I suffer from dental phobias as it is(and needles too). But even beyond that I have a further excuse. My last dentist is still in jail (I think) for having kidnapped, drugged, and raped one of his patients. It was all over the news for a while. Even had video of him getting it on with her in the dental chair.

Its probably not as bad as the media made it sound. From what I knew of it, it was just a bad relationship descision that got way out of control. What started off as some odd consential acts blew out of control. Still. brrrrrr

[VOX]

22. I have the coolest dentist, and his hygienist is also terrific...

His office is an upper storefront, *very* relaxed, and the dentist and his staff are great with people, and with anxious patients especially (namely, me).

I once skipped going to the dentist for *seven* years, because I just hated it. (Fortunately, I take good care of my teeth, and I didn't have any cavities or other problems, but I can't recommend not going like this.)

I've gone every six months for the last ten years!

[CanuckAmok]

23. I practically LIVE at the dentist's office these days...

I'm in the final stages of my mass-allignment braces, and I've been to see my dentist five times since September. His office is right beside my orthodontist's office, so they are both involved in my procedure. Woohoo! I get the wire braces off on the 24th!!!! Phase two is much, much easier to maintain, and won't require such intensive treatment.

By the way, I love my dentist, and here's why....

After I got out of the Forces, I began working as a production assistant on film sets. I was a permitee in my union, and had no medical/dental coverage at the time, and no steady income (being on the occasional worker list). Unfortunate, to say the least, was the fact that I had six (!) wisdom teeth, and they were impacted and causing severe damage (and pain) to my upper molars. No, they didn't cause any problems when I was a fully-covered soldier, oh no... The pain was excruciating, actually, and it was so bad that I had to leave work on several occasions (luckliy for me, I was dating a doctor who was addicted to demorol, and she had candy-bowls full of the stuff in her apartment--but that's a whole other story). I would leave work, and spend the day looking for a dentist who would help me out. As I had a job, of sorts, I wasn't eligible for publically assisted dental care, but I couldn't afford it myself, so I had to suffer.

Anyway, one day, I was working on a set right around the corner from a dental clinic. Once again, the pain got too intense, and I had to leave work. I tried, on a long-shot, to see if one of the dentists would treat me. As it happens, the man who would become my dentist overheard me explaining my situation to the receptionist, and he invited me into the chair. I explained that I didn't have any money, or any hoped of having any for a while, and he said that was fine, and that I could pay him what I could, when I could. He fixed me up temporaroily for the day (pulled one wisdom tooth and one broken, infected molar), and told me to come back at the end of the week so he could pull the rest of the upper wisdom teeth, again for free.

His office was decorated with Haida and Innu carvings, and when I asked about them, he explained that he spends one weekend a month in Northern BC and the Yukon, giving free dental treatment to poor First Nations people in the middle of nowhere, and some of them give him artwork as thanks.

He's not a fundie, or even religious, he's just a wonderful person who believes his profession is all about helping people.

Incidentally, Karma looks after good dentists; It's now part of my job to arrange emergency dental and medical treatment to actors and visiting studio brass. These people break crowns, plates, retainers, and caps with shocking regularity. I always send them to my dentist, and he's probably made a quarter million dollars in fees for the people I've sent his way over the last ten years.

[geniph]

24. I like getting my teeth cleaned

I'm none too fond of the X-rays, and certainly I hate fillings (mostly I hate the Novocaine shots), but I actually really like getting my teeth cleaned. They feel so great afterward!

My husband, who is 53 years old, has exactly two fillings. I guess that's what you get when you a) grow up in Arizona with naturally-fluoridated water, and b) don't have money for sweets as a child.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

25. I get my teeth cleaned every three months and get checkups

twice a year.

Good dental hygiene is one of my things whether it's my teeth or anyone else's.

[geniph]

27. Me too, Teena

I've actually refused to date people whose teeth were funky. I can't deal with the resulting nasty breath. I don't mean problems with teeth, I mean bad dental hygiene - a really egregious amount of visible plaque.

I tend to have a visceral reaction to people with really snaggly, discolored teeth. Conversely, the only time in my life I ever felt the urge to reproduce was for one brief second with one ex-boyfriend, the first time I saw his teeth - they were naturally flawless (not capped or bleached, just naturally straight and white and not a single filling). Something in my subconscious said, "good breeding prospect." Luckily, I didn't listen to my subconscious on that issue; *I'm* not a good breeding prospect!

[noonwitch]

26. I had to get a filling a couple of weeks ago

I like my dentist, but I hate getting fillings and root canals.

I went to a nice dentist as a kid who had a sadistic hygenist. She would stab you in the gums with her little scraper, then complain that your gums were bleeding. My dad liked her, go and figure.

I also had years of orthodontia-those guys are the real sadists. Braces, rubber bands, neckgear, etc, it all really hurts, especially the monthly wire tightening.

[gyopsy]

28. About 3 years ago...

everyone has to go to the dentist. I don't usually. And I'm beginning to understand why it's so important. I brush my teeth 3 times a day usually and you would never know there was something wrong by just looking at me smile.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

29. I love my dentist but one time one of his hygenists really made me mad

Here's what she did:
I was in the chair and a woman from the office came inand told her that Mr. (insert name) wasn't going to be able to make his appointment. She seemed relieved and looked at me and said, "I'm so glad, he has AIDS!" She said AIDS like some people say "gay", like she was saying a bad word. I was so furious for her not having compassion that this man might be sick (she's a health care professional, for Christ's sake) and for her very unprofessional behaivor. If I was a different person, the dentist may have lost a patient. Bad all around.
I complained to the dentist and I never saw her again.

[ScreamingMeemie]

Good for you! And good for the dentist...if he/she fired her.

Man, that makes me mad. :mad:

[DU GrovelBot]

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[geniph]

31. Grovelbot gets his/her/its teeth cleaned regularly!

All good grovelbots practice good dental hygiene!

[Rabrrrrrr]

33. Gets its teeth cleaned every 30th post!

on edit: typo. You'd think in a 7 word post I wouldn't need to edit a typo, but no, I in fact did.

[arwalden]

38. Grovelbot Has No Star. Grovelbot Has NO STAR!!

-- Allen

[Pithlet]

32. Today

And I have to go back next week, because I forgot I have a heart murmer, and apparently I have to take antibiotics before having anything done on my teeth. I have to get a tooth pulled and a few cavities filled. It had been over ten years since my last visit before today.

[brainshrub]

34. I want to go,

but I have no dental insurance and I'm kinda tight for money right now.

[Piperay]

35. I went a couple weeks ago

and I go back on Thursday. I am having some crowns but in and have to go back for the permanent caps. I am really particular about my teeth and keep my appointments religiously. I will be more than anxious to go because I think the dentist ground to much off my teeth because I have been in constant pain for two weeks and he is really going to hear about it. :grr:

[Kamika]

36. I go once a year

It's enough.

No point in making them even richer! :D

[DinahMoeHum]

37. 3-4 times a year for check-up and cleaning. . .

My dentist is considered one of the pioneers in natural periodontal care today. He got me started on a hydro-flossing (as opposed to the string-flossing) program a few years ago.

Since then, people have told me they can't believe how healthy (and straight) my teeth and gums look. Unfortunately, I also taken to looking at their mouths while they talk. What I see often shocks me, to think they have worse-looking teeth than me and they're younger in age (I'm in my late 40's)

:D