I had to snicker.  I picked up my "records" from my old dentist, whom I fired
yesterday.  It included exactly two x-rays from last July.  The technical
quality was the pits, too.  But no paperwork; no x-rays from two weeks ago;
nothing else.

So why snicker?  Because I got a statement from the same dentist yesterday when
I got home from there saying that they'd billed my insurance company for the
visit two weeks ago.  Naturally, it didn't occur to them (although I'd told them
on more than one occasion) that my insurance plan had reached its annual limit
already when I had my wisdom teeth done at the beginning of the month by the
oral surgeon.  Since they didn't include any trace of me visiting in my records,
I guess that means it's going to be on the house.  I don't feel any obligation
to pay him.  Frankly, he's wasted more of my time than I have of his.

What a slap-dash practice.  I won't miss them.  And in about half an hour, I'll
be getting in the car to visit my new dentist:  the son of a friend.  I guess
I'll have to eat the cost of a current x-ray of my broken molars but I expect
it'll be worth it just to be free of those morons at the old office.

As for a good set of all my x-rays (is it called a panograph?), my oral surgeon
thoughtfully provided me with a very nice copy from September this morning.

The extraction will run about $165 if it's not complicated.  I just wolfed down
1000 mg of Ampicillin (hx of hip replacement) just in case he wants to play
today... which I hope he will.  My jaw is killing me.

Now, I wonder if I can make any headway with a complaint to the local dental
board about the practices of one of its members?  I aim to repay every courtesy
he showed me.

Jay Hanig, RN