New Dentist: What do you think?

I recently made an appointment to get my teeth cleaned at a highly recommended dentist in town. When I called, I told the secretary that I did not want to have x-rays so she could take that into account when planning the time for my appointment. I used to be a dental assistant years ago, so I know that this was a decent courtesy for schedule planning.

To my surprise, she said to me that if I didn’t get x-rays, the dentist wouldn’t see me. That was a first, ever.

I politely explained to the woman that I had just seen another dentist to have a cavity fixed, and that I didn’t need x-rays again. I had just had a full-mouth x-ray at this other dentist, and I could bring along the records.

She apologized, but told me that this was their policy that upon seeing this dentist, he would do a full-mouth x-ray, even if I just had one. It was their policy.

Read more I was a bit floored, but since he came so highly recommend, I explained the woman that I found flaw with their policy hoping I could convince her to reconsider. I stated that I was not going to subject myself to more radiation (a second time in a matter of weeks) when it wasn’t necessary — just because this doctor thought I should, and I asked her to talk to the doctor for me.

She told me he wouldn’t budge on his policy, but she’d have him call me.

He did. Here is what he said:

I really care about my patients teeth, and if you want to come see me, I need to do a full x-ray of your mouth, even if you’ve just had one. I want to make sure they were done properly, and I want to ensure you get a quality checkup.

How can I do a good job if you take away my tools?

You could come back later, and say I didn’t do a good job if I didn’t take the x-rays to spot all potential problems, and I don’t want that, so for the first time, I require x-rays. By not getting the x-rays, you are putting me in a position where I could be held liable. And I don’t want to rely on another person’s x-rays. I don’t know how good they are.

Once I do this full mouth x-ray, however, after that, I don’t care what you do. You can do whatever you want. If you never get another x-ray again in my office, that’s fine with me.

What do you make of that? Is this a good, caring dentist, or someone who should raise an alarm bell?

My Thoughts

This doctor is inconsistent in his behavior. He tells me that he cares, and because he cares, he requires that I get a full mouth x-ray because my old dentist may not have done it right.

Okay, that’s fair, so I would expect him to continue to require me to get a full-mouth x-ray every so many months, if this is his belief. But he doesn’t.

He tells me that if he doesn’t give me at least one set of x-rays, he can be held liable. After that, he says he doesn’t care what I do.

I suspect this means this man doesn’t care what I do so long as I cover his liability risks. Or, I would expect him to tell me why and how come his policy is so important, but he doesn’t. This is inconsistent with someone who is caring about my teeth.

This dentist is not someone I would trust, personally. I consider this inconsistency easy to spot. How about you?