Yay, no cavities!

I just got back from the dentist, and I don’t have any cavities. Phew! My new dentist is great and I’m pleased with him. Alex recommended the guy, Ryan’s been going to him for a few years now, but I just finally made the switch in January. Until then I was going to this con artist guy in Westwood near Kinkos (I will tell anyone the name of the place if you ask but I don’t want to print it here for fear of slander/libel charges by bad-mouthing him in a public forum). He kept billing my insurance for all kinds of things I never had done, like fluoride treatments and specialist consultations. He also kept trying to get me to whiten my teeth. Those of you who know me probably don’t think of me as “that girl with the yellow/brown teeth”; my point is, I did not need that done! (And if I were interested in teeth whitening, I would have explored whitening toothpaste first, before getting his expensive laser treatments!)

Despite all of his billing scams and upcharging, I kept going to “Dr. Evil” because I was too lazy to change dentists. But the last straw was when I went in November for a cleaning and the office tried to tell me I owed $100 for 2 co-pays because I have 2 insurances. No, sorry, first of all I get 2 free cleanings a year just from *1* insurance, secondly, you would never pay MORE because you’re double insured. This makes sense all you readers, right? I tried to tell the office manager, fine, then just ignore the second insurance. Bill it all to the first one, forget I even have 2. But she said "no, it's already in our computer system". Huh?! Dr. Evil also tried to tell me I had a very small cavity but that he could fill it without anesthesia (since I was pregnant at the time) and I wouldn't feel it. The whole thing was very fishy, each time I went.

Anyway, the GOOD dentist who is NICE and HONEST is Dr. Brent Maiden. We like him. He told me that the little spot on my tooth was NOT a cavity. Furthermore, my gums are fine, I didn’t need the Arestin therapy Dr. Evil was always pushing me to get, and my teeth are very white, whitening would not do much. Such a relief to just go to a doctor who seems concerned about the health of my teeth and not obsessed with squeezing out every penny from me and both of my insurance companies. =)