Holy Inappropriate Conversation, Batman! – Stories from the Dental Chair

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DENTAL

I had a dental appointment last week. Years ago, I requested never to be scheduled with one particular hygienist. The first time I saw her, I left there feeling as if my mouth had been ripped apart. As it turned out, she has a child with autism. I made the mistake of telling her that DC also has autism. Mistake? Yes! Mistake! This was the most uncomfortable and painful appointment I have ever had! Painful – because the more she talked about her son the more aggressively she cleaned my teeth. Uncomfortable – because the stories she felt compelled to tell me about him were just unbelievably inappropriate (in my opinion) and very uncomfortable for me.

I have friends and we do feel relatively comfortable talking about our many issues with our children, but never, ever would I speak of these things with a stranger or here in this blog. Her stories went above and beyond anything I could even imagine. In general, I am usually willing to talk with anyone about autism. I am no expert and can only speak to DC’s autism, but I am always willing to talk about it if someone feels the need. It did not take long for me to realize that she was not looking for someone to talk to, she was just really looking for someone to shock and this conversation was not just for my benefit, it was for the benefit of the entire office.

When I arrived for my appointment last week I discovered that they had scheduled me with her again. I couldn’t ask them to switch because she was standing right there. She didn’t remember me, and I specifically did not mention DC…. but it didn’t matter – she had just gone through a divorce…….

sigh………

I left there with my mouth torn to pieces.

This appointment and the memory of my first appointment with her reminded me of a post I wrote a few months back which was written about what I will share or not share. Everyone has different ideas about what they feel comfortable sharing, but there are some things that I, personally am not comfortable in sharing here – that’s just me. I am sure there are people that think that I share too much and that is fine too – I am comfortable right where I am..

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17 thoughts on “Holy Inappropriate Conversation, Batman! – Stories from the Dental Chair”

  2. I have “talks” with pain-causing hygienists and will stop them to tell them to be more gentle. What makes it easy is that I am very happy to leave before they are done if they don’t listen!

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    • The thing is, I really can take a lot of pain (I usually don’t even get Novocain for fillings unless it is absolutely necessary) but this was just so over and above what a cleaning should feel like. I guess I should have gotten the clue when she offered Novocain for a cleaning! – I will absolutely do that the next time. (There should not be a next time as they are not supposed to schedule me with her – fingers crossed.)

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    • I’ve been lucky. The only time I feel outright pain or discomfort is when the hygienist or dentist asks me to hold my mouth open for a relatively long time. Or they put this ” frame ” to hold my mouth open. Makes my jaw ache.

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