Whenever my assistant tells me there a patient from Hougang waiting to see me, my heart would skip a beat. Here’s an example.
She had a badly broken tooth which she refused to extract. I told her that we can still save the tooth, but that would require root canal treatment, crown lengthening surgery, followed by a crown. The total bill would add up to about $1500. She expressed shock and disappeared. Years after that, when I’ve completely forgotten about her and my clinic when I first saw her has already been shut down, she showed up at my clinic at Lucky Plaza with her husband. She was holding a crown in her hand. It had fallen off from the tooth I’ve asked her to either extract or do root canal, crown lenghtening and crowning.
She went to see a dentist in India and had a crown done on that tooth – without root canal or crown lengthening. Less than 2 years after the crown was placed, it fell off.
“But the dentist in India assured us that the crown would last her a lifetime!” her husband complained.
So what is he doing in my clinic? He should be complaining in India.
“Just stick it back for us.” he ordered, without a tinge of respect.
And guarantee that it will last a lifetime as well? No way. In the first place, the crown was not done in a way I would have it done it. My refusal to just stick back that Indian crown seemed to have caught them by surprise.
“Look. We’ll pay you.”
Great. Then let me redo the whole thing the proper way.
“No. We’ll pay you $50 to stick the crown back.”
They still didn’t get it. All the while, they had assumed that I was trying to push the root canal treatment and the crown lengthening surgery just because I wanted to make more money and not because these procedures were necessary. And in these times when everyone claims that he is poor, charging thousands of dollars for a series of procedures to save a tiny little tooth makes dentists look like the bad and shameless as the folks who rewarded themselves with fat bonuses after receiving President Obama’s generous bailouts.
There is no logical association between dentists who go out of their way to save a tooth and %$*#@ AIG executive here, but these are illogical times. Let’s be poor together. Dentists who are still doing well in times like these ought to be ashamed of themselves. They should be cutting their own flesh to feed the poor. The poor deserve everything. The poor needs to be heard more than anyone else. The poor must come first. Well, if poverty really has its privileges, then I would like to tell everyone that I’m so poor and in need of help, respect, buffet dinner at $2 and dental treatment at Indian rates.
Oh no. Another Hougang patient. This time, it’s a crown done in China ….
How do you help a proudly poor patient who goes overseas to get non-vital teeth crowned without root canal treatment to save costs against your advice and yet have the cheek to show up to rectify problems? At nominal Indian/Chinese charges to boot! How does one get over the insult before even looking at the case?
What about the cases where I insist on removing the wisdom tooth before placing an implant in the second molar position? The second molar was decayed and lost because the wisdom tooth was not removed in time. Now, with an implant to be placed where the victimised tooth was, I would certainly want to have the wisdom tooth removed as this would jeopardise the implant just as it did the second molar.
But no. The poor patient cannot accept or afford it. They refuse to accept the fact that the wisdom tooth is a liability. No pain what. Ok. The poor must be protected from profiteering. The poor is always right. Just do it. But …
“Got guarantee or not? Can last a lifetime or not.”
Dewdrop Notes
Dr Chan's Kitchen