I went to the dentist today for the first time in… a long time. Since it was my first time at that clinic, I got there at about 1:10 to do some paperwork before a 1:30 appointment. I filled out the forms, then sat around until it was time for me to get my teeth cleaned. Finally, it was 1:30. Then 1:40. About 1:50, the person at the desk saw me in the reception area and said she’d go take a look to see what was up. She came back and told me the dentist was still helping someone and it’d be another ten minutes before I could get back there. Yeah, they were running a little behind schedule.
Upon my arrival into the dentist’s chair, they told me they couldn’t clean my teeth. Why? Because I had knee surgery in April and they needed Dr. Lewis to sign a form saying it was okay to do it. I was a little annoyed, but that’s their policy (for legal reasons or something else, I dunno). So I asked how far back it goes. I mean, surgery was almost eight months ago. That’s a pretty long time, right? Well, not long enough according to their standards:
You need to have that form signed if you’ve had an operation performed in the last two years.
Sure, I think that’s ridiculous, but that’s their policy. The dentist wasn’t going to clean my teeth, but they took some x-rays and found out I have no new cavities after all this time. So that’s the lesson of the day, kids: remember to brush and floss properly and you can have surgery as often as you want.
Wait… let me get this straight. They won’t go near your teeth with brush and polish, but they’ll still TAKE X-RAYS of your mouth!? Doesn’t that seem a little… backward!?