Do you like when the dental hygienist makes small talk with you?

[desiree465]

So I need some opinions. I'm pursuing a career in dental hygiene. Yesterday I had my teeth cleaned and the dental hygienist talked so much that it took her over an hour to clean my teeth, I promise you my teeth don't warrant that kind of time. She kept asking me questions (non-dental related), pulling the instruments out of my mouth while she finished a thought. A total nightmare for someone who gets nervous in that chair like me. This has happened to me more then it hasn't. So the question is do people like when the hygienist makes small talk with them like that. I can't imagine any other reason for them doing this other than it's what's expected of them. I wanna know what people think because I want to do right by my future patients. If it's small talk you want I'll give it but I just don't see that being the case. 

I know it's not a question about smoking, but as former smokers I can imagine we all get nervous about our dental health and don't want the experience prolonged any further than it has to be........or maybe some of you do. Opinions please!

[YoungAtHeart]

If the hygienist is talking you through what they are doing - and maybe pointing out areas you might do better on, then fine.  What they had for breakfast or the state of the nation - not so much!  I think your person just likes to talk, and you were their captive audience. 

I had a friend who had a massage person who talked the ENTIRE time...ah, no!

jmho

Nancy

[desiree465]

Oh that's just not right, I don't know if I could keep myself from freaking out if my massage lady did that to me. 

[Bellegonia]

I'm going to weigh is with a firm "No" to the small talk. If you're having a conversation it means you don't have instruments in your mouth... beyond that then Youngatheart is right - your being held captive.

I had one recently who has a new boyfriend and actually was on her cell phone messaging with her gloved hands then returned to work on my mouth. I'm not confrontational but after I left the office and thought more and more about it, the more inappropriate I realized it was and that she was actually putting my health in danger by putting her cell phone germs directly into my gums. So I callled the office manager and told her.

Thanks for asking.

[CommunityAdmin]

I always ask my hygienist and dentist why they insist on asking me a question and then inserting a cleaning implement into my mouth.  Really?

Please be really careful and avoid working in a place that uses amalgam. Check out a snippet from documentary my friend directed.

Mark
EX Community Manager

[CommunityAdmin]

On the extreme side of things the first time I went to my chiropractor (secretly known as "The talker" ) I was there for 5.5 hours, starting at 5:45pm. I talked maybe 30 mins collectively the entire time. A family member had been calling my phone repeatedly (it was in another room and I had no concept of time) and was about to call the cops to ask for a well-check since it was after 11pm and I had not returned home .  Fortunately, I didn't get charged for more than a normal initial visit.  And he's really one of the few chiropractors that has high endorsements in the area by the insurance companies for billing properly, though he couldn't have made any money from my visit that evening. As a hygienist that won't likely ever happen, but hopefully you don't have a dentist who ever takes that amount of time with a patient.

I've since been able to minimize the length of time I spend there. 

Mark
EX Community Manager

[desiree465]

5.5 hours! Lmao that doesn't even sound possible. How did you not just get up and walk out! I would've lost it I think. 

[desiree465]

Wow that's freakin scary. We have to collect extracted teeth from dental offices for an anatomy class. One of the stipulations is that they cannot contain amalgam, I had no idea why! I will definitely be asking more questions about this though

[MelodyEve]

Omg Mark! I have been trying to find a dentist in my state that will pull all of my teeth that were filled with mercury when I was a small child. Its one of the most toxic things we can have put into our bodies.

[CommunityAdmin]

Maybe checkout Mercury Safe Dentists, Amalgam/Silver Filling Free Dentists, Holistic Dentists, Biological Dentists,... 

MelodyEve wrote:

Omg Mark! I have been trying to find a dentist in my state that will pull all of my teeth that were filled with mercury when I was a small child. Its one of the most toxic things we can have put into our bodies.