I can’t recall many times, when I would have to be compelled to see a doctor for any illness or accident. I had been without a family doctor for more than 16 years now, when the last one retired from active medical duty. It was about that time I had my last overall medical examination, blood pressure, cholesterol, urine. Since I had no problems or warnings, always feeling fine, never felt any urgency to look for new family doctor since. People always remind me the preventive part of medicine and that I should go for another medical examination. Somehow I have developed a disdain for going to the doctor. Can I imagine if they find something and it could disturb my life? It is just manifestation of my ignorance. Since I like to put off unpleasant tasks, I have lasted so long without a doctor. Several months ago, in the spur-of-the-moment, I walked into a local family clinic and enquired about seeing a doctor. The receptionist asked if my reason had any urgency like being sick and I replied no. She asked me to fill out a long personal-health form. The waiting room was full of people I considered sickly. With every minute there, I became feeling more uncomfortable and wanted to go away. The receptionist took my form with the words that it would be reviewed by the doctor. They accept some new patients, and she promised a phone call to make an appointment. That was few months ago, and phone call never came. Somehow I am relieved that I have not been accepted. I feel I should have a medical checkup, but the system does not want me.
I never felt good in front of any medical doctor and disliked going to their offices. On the other hand, I do not mind dentists, and we have a family dentist. He is the second one. Since the retirement, of the former, we were compelled to find a new one. My wife has a dental insurance from her place of employment and; therefore, she finds a time to visit him at least twice a year. I just stick to one visit per year, simply because simply I do not have insurance and the visit is usually quite expensive even for a checkup with x-ray and cleaning. Clearly, I can still compare my old dentist in eighties and early nineties, comparing prices today. Dental offices have clearly changed with many aspects, over last 20 to 30 years. Undoubtedly they have become more market and business oriented. Starting with their locations. You had to go to the second floors, above the stores to visit one. Economy priced office buildings were their preferred location and most of them were one-person office. No employees and the doctor’s name was always posted on the door and in the lobby. No advertising, no trade names, were allowed. Our old family dentist was at Ossington and Bloor Subway Station and on the second floor of an old low rise building. The dentist answered his phone calls, while in between patients. It was one-man office just with occasional administrative help from his wife. The office was simply decorated in plain white and with no fancy equipment like you can see today. The credit cards were not accepted, and dental statement was mailed for payment to the insurance company or to a patient. The payment was expected by a cheque. The office had no computer, only an electric typewriter. I can’t recall more than once, when his typed statements would go over $100, for me to pay. I firmly recall paying once just $5.00 for dental x-ray, but long ago. Cosmetic procedures like dental whitening were never mentioned anywhere. I had to ask for cleaning, and the procedure was performed by the dentist himself. Hygienists were still non-existent. Doctor sent me once to a local periodontist. All procedures were performed in a painless way, but the environment of the office and waiting room helped to increase a level of anxiety, among the patients sitting in the waiting room. There was no tv, no patient education or a friendly receptionist to talk to. Just few old magazines on the table for patients to read. The professionals were not allowed any marketing or advertising, except cards mailing at the time of opening a new office. If you needed services, you had to knock on the door, judge by name or ask for referrals from friends or relatives. When the dentist retired and closed his office, we had to look for a new one.
Now we have a new family dental office to visit. It is nothing like the old style, and his mode of operation is prevailing and representative of their profession today. First, you do not have to look for a new dentist very hard, today. Asking friends or relatives for good recommendation is also a thing of the past. The clinics and their advertising are always in your face. They occupy prime real estate, part of plazas or street levels. Some dental centres are located on the floors of prestigious downtown office buildings, right in the financial center. No more, the nondescript back-of-plaza locations. The offices remind you more a luxury spa or hotel lobby, where you get pampered all-the way, rather than going for a painful procedure. Honestly, I never felt some pain from treatments dentist has done. It includes drilling of root canal. The only my pain always came from seeing the bills. The dental fees have skyrocketing over last 20 to 25 years to keep pace with their new image. I maintain that a main reason why people hate going to the dentists is that they can’t afford it, if they do not have insurance coverage. Fear of dental bills exceeds the fear of sitting in a dental chair. The profession has learnt how to market their services in the best light. They make the visits less stress free and focus on personal and cosmetic improvements. It is true that people are less hesitant to part with their money, when they see them as improvements in their well-being and their good looks, rather than teeth fixes. Way back, I paid about $30.00 for cleaning done by a dentist, and I had to ask for it. Today a dentist would not waste his time with such a simple procedure, but I pay more than ten times the amount. The cleanings are done by the hygienists. They are fast and efficient, and I would not want their job. But still you can notice it as a lot of money for a procedure that should be done at least twice or three times a year. I can see that they priced themselves out of market for many people with fixed incomes, no insurance coverage or people simply stretched to pay the other bills.
A friend of mine, also a dentist told me recently that it was a mistake he made many years ago, going for the dental profession. He should have been a different type of doctor. Is it a syndrome of other grass being always greener? Or is there some justification to it that medical doctors make a better living? The topic can be a subject of another debate, if we have new facts from both sides. This dentist was clearly tired working of long hours, commuting among three offices that he owned and located far apart. He wanted to be a successful professional making big money! The professional success is clearly defined by the amount of money flowing from owning offices where other associate doctors work for your dreams! The path to that success is not easy, and many give up, along the way. My friend sold his dream offices to another dreamer. Now he works as associate dentist for well-established office. He says that having a more family time was important to him than working to pay large business bills. His personal salary is apparently about the same now as before, but he enjoys more family time. We all work for financial rewards. Do they come as a result of our being good at something, or are money only goals? Is a profession just a vehicle to reach it? Are we patients or just customers?
Medical clinics and dental offices seem to be on the same path for part of the process. They both have goal to improve and keep our health. The dentists are paid entirely out of patient’s pockets or by private insurance companies. Highest dental bills are for cosmetic procedures that are clearly avoidable and never reach catastrophic proportions. Our medical bills are paid Government run insurance and we never see them, regardless of their size. US based customer of our company, recently asked for delay with paying of their bills. A family run company was stricken by a serious illness of the company’s president, founder and owner. The family had to pay a large amount of $ for transplant operation and consequently was unable to pay our bill on time. Our basic medical care seems to be rationed as I have experienced myself. Perhaps they had more serious patients than me to take care of. I am sure that I will receive great care, if I have to go to an emergency department of our hospitals.
Midtown Torontohas cosmetic dentists with long experience near subway stations.
