Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Dentist Woes (man, I sure do complain a lot)

In the spring of 2004, I decided to suck it up and finally get my teeth straightened. I had seen Invisalign commercials and other propaganda a couple of times before and the whole "invisible" aspect of it really appealed to me. Looking like a 14 year old with a mouth full of metal? Not so much. I brought up the idea to my dentist because he had pamphlets and what not around his waiting room. Turns out, he is an authorized Invisalign "provider" so I did not even have to go to an Orthodontist! Bonus!

Anyway so we started the process of molds and pictures and back and forth with Invisalign to get just the right treatment. $4k later, I had invisible braces. The day I got them I was totally psyched about it...before the appointment. After the appointment, when I was back at work with a throbbing mouth? Umm...let's just say the excitement had disappated. Or should I say dispfffffffffffffffpated since I now talk like the sister on southpark.


Also, after I got my invisible braces when someone would mention something or see me putting them on or taking them off. I would get all giddy about it and then they would say "ya know, I never noticed that you needed braces."

awesome. so what am i paying $4k for, again?

So let's fast forward to this past April when I am on my 13th and final tray. Only. My teeth arent quite straight. and honestly? For $4k they better be perfect. Lucky for me, Invisalign offers one "refinement" for free. A refinement is basically another round of trays. OK, cool. So I go in and get another round of molds and pictures and am told it will take 2 to 3 weeks. This was April 6th.

May...nothing
June.. nothing
July... "Oh the doctor is busy with a patient can I have him call you back?"
July 12th...still no call. So I call back...in bitch mode...Phone call goes something like...

Ring

"Dr. aslkdjflskdjflsdfk's office, how may I help you?"

"Hi Elizabeth, this is Tricia, I still haven't heard from Dr. dslkfjsldfjsdlfkj, is he available?"

"This isn't Elizabeth, she is out of the country"

silence.

"mmmmmkkkay. Still need to know whats up with my Invisalign."

"He is busy with a patient, can I have him call you back"

"You could, but he isn't in to returning calls, can you tell me when he has an opening today so I can call then?"

"uh, hold on"

Dr. lsdkjflsdkfjlsafdj "Hey Trish! How's it going! Listen, I am so sorry this is taking so long theres been some problems with blah blah blah Im a male ditz blah blah blah. I will call you when I hear something. Oh! and I will give you a free whitening treatment to hopefully make up for you having to wait so long"

Me: "Oh cool! Sounds good! Hope to hear from you soon!"

Click

August 2nd, still no call. So I call cuz...damnit WTF?!?!

He answers the phone this time... haha. busted.

"Hey Dr. lkdsjflsdkjflsdfkjsdf, this is Tricia. Just calling to see whats up with my Invisalign stuff."

"I don't know what to tell you, it isnt here. And its only been like 3 weeks"

"well, its been 4 months actually, but ok"

"Yeah, theres been some problems with blah blah blah blah blah (general blowing smoke up my ass)"

"Well can you tell me how many more trays there are gonna be?"

"Hmm. Well I don't have that information in front of me, I will have to check my email. Can I call you back?"

"Yeah *looks at clock, its 330* I leave work at 4, so can you please call my cell phone"

"sure thing, I will call you at 430"

"ok"

click.

430...440...500....600..700. DAMNIT!

On a whim, I check my email, and lo...he sent me an email instead. Here it is, and I swear I have not modified a single letter:

"Dear Tricia,
I apologize again for the delay in your treatment. Initially in May it was my fault for not sending the case in for refinement until mid June. Then I went through the case submission process which has slightly changed this past 5 months, meaning there is a consultation firm (called PSA) contracting with Invisalign that pre-approves the steps, then it gets forwarded to me by which time I found out it was being treated as a NEW case with a new charge. I had to resubmit the submission package again since I wanted a refinement, you are not a new patient. Then from there the clincheck (which is the 3D modeling of your teeth) was done once by me which I didn't approve (15 aligners schedualed was not acceptable by me) so I submitted back with some changes that I requested. The screen capture file that I sent you has a new clincheck back by 8/17...however, I called them after talkign to you on Frid 4:20 ; they'll expedite the case. I'm sure everything will be ready to go by next week for the final manufacturing of the trays. I will forward the movie of the FINAL stages of teeth movement (CLINCHECK) to you as soon as I have it (that's how I would know exactly how many aligners are fabricated for your treatment). If you would like to examine it in 3D and give it one last approval you can pop-on over next week. It should take no more than 10 minutes. So I don't have a correct # of aligner answer for you now, but I'm guessing 9 aligners.
Also for your trouble of waiting so long, I'll be given you a take home bleaching treatment that is usually $300-400 at no charge. I'm sure you'll like your whiter/brighter smile over the years after this orthodontic treatment is over. If you don't want the whitening treatment, I'm willing to give you a brand new Sonicare Elite Professional package (model 7800)that retails for 160$. Again I feel bad for your delay and willing to give you a gift to hopefully make up for it.
Thanks for waiting patiently.
Have a good weekend.
Dr. ldkjsflsdkjflasdkfj, DDS"


When I first read this, I was like...YOU SOB!!!! This is your fault! s;ldfjsl;dfkjsl;dfkjl;dsfkj;dslfkjdslfkjds various other venting.

and then I realized. Man, at least he is honest (finally) and hell Im gonna get some free shit out of the deal. I was hoping to be done with this by the end of the summer...

but meh...

thats just how shit goes down in my world...:P

1 comment:

  1. Yay to teeth whitening! I want to do another one of those treatments (had it done via this Rembrandt treatment that does it through some odd UV looking light being stuck in your mouth for an hour at dentist office. Odd but it works. I loved the results but this coffee/red wine lover wants/needs it again. A great smile is money! :-D

    Incompetence runs rampant?

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