Childish Behavior
Dentist, UK | Healthy | January 9, 2018
(I arrive for a dentist appointment to have some X-rays of my jaw. I am sitting in the waiting room for around 10 minutes when I am called through.)
Dentist: “Okay, sit yourself back down and we’ll take a look.”
(She starts feeling around my gum line. I’m not sure why, but just assume it has something to do with the X-ray.)
Dentist: “How does that feel?”
Me: “What do you mean?”
Dentist: “Is it numbed up yet?”
Me: “No?”
Dentist: “Hmmm. We can’t give you any more anaesthetic today. We’ll give it another few minutes.”
Me: “Umm, you haven’t given me any anaesthetic.”
Dentist: *turns back to computer* “Are you [Name]?”
Me: “No, I’m [My Name].”
Dentist: “Oh, you’re my next appointment. Looks like [Assistant] called you in by mistake.”
(I was sent back out and the other patient is called in — a young girl, while I’m a 27-year-old man. I was honestly so shaken by how the dentist didn’t realise the difference that I left and forgot the appointment. I didn’t go back for another two years until the pain in my jaw reached unbearable, at which time most of the staff had been replaced (including my old dentist). I had to register again, but I was put with someone more competent. I got my X-rays and found out I have temporomandibular disorder. I was sent to my GP (which admittedly I should have gone to initially) and prescribed antidepressants to try and relax the muscles. I put myself through two years of additional pain because I was mistaken for a child.)
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