Every single patient coming into my dental office is

[PCIntern]

afraid/worried/nervous/scared-to-death about the economy. Several are newly-poor, and/or newly-unemployed, and/or newly-scammed-by-investment-counselor. In thirty years I have never ever heard a litany of ills such as I hear every day, and it does not matter whether the person is a corporate professional or a clerk in city Hall. All are afraid of pink slips, department reorganizations/disbanding, or other manners of dis-employment.

We are jammed with patients because people think they're going to lose their dental benefits and you can't get an appointment with me for anything but an emergency for 4 weeks...I happen to hate that, it makes it difficult to maneuver when you have to get something done for someone. Thus 15 hour days. And less posting on DU, which some people here probably, nay, likely, welcome.

Today I spoke with an old friend who is very powerful in the city, due to the individual's appointed position. This individual is overwhelmed by the sorrow and fear in the City and is hopeful because Obama has been elected with a Democratic Congress, but you can hear the hesitation in the voice and the uncertainty.

This is already very rough and going to get a whole lot worse before it gets any better. Just rmeember, the safest way to double your money is to fold it and put it in your pocket. Good luck and stay safe.

[Skittles]

1. you know it, PCIntern

it's very bad indeed

[Mike 03]

2. Are any of your patients just plain humiliated because they have not been to a dentist

in ten or more years?

I need to get to a dentist. But I'm so ashamed of the fact it's been so long. LOL.

Seriously, your post is very interesting. I collect first-hand testimonies like yours.

I'm seeing the same thing here, in my town. It is like a grape dying on the vine.

[Skittles]

5. hey Mike - just go

there's nothing to be embarrassed about - lots of people are like you - and dentists are professionals - they understand

[PCIntern]

8. True that...

we dont' do 'recriminations'. My line is: We take the case like a lawyer, sure we wish you hadn't confessed, but this is the case and we'll get going. Also, believe me, we've seen a lot worse and most sane dentists don't take it personally when soemone hasn't been.. Any asshole dentist who lectures someone b/c they've been tardy, should deserve to have that person walk out on them.

[Mike 03]

11. Thank you.

I needed to hear that tonight. Some people "get behind" in life. My whole life seems to be "behind" right now, including getting my teeth checked.

Thanks, it means a lot.

[Skittles]

16. hey, I have been there

I too procrastinated in my more irresponsible years - all I got when I finally went to the dentist was some gentle advice, nothing bad - and they fixed me right up. :D

[Mike 03]

17. Thank you Skittles.

I will do that. I hope the dentists here are as kind as yours are. The last time I was in a dentist's office, she drilled four of my impacted wisdom teeth out.

That was a long time ago. I need to get back into a dentist's office.

Thank you for the encouragement.

[Missy Vixen]

20. Mike, I wish you were local, I'd send you to my dentist in a heartbeat

They are GREAT.

I'm one of those flossing scofflaws. I'm big on the brushing, but I hate the flossing. I think they've finally talked me into it, but they are nice about it. Before this dentist, I went to a guy who was so funny that I'd be in the chair laughing the whole time.

Dentistry is not what it was even ten years ago. They have cool new things (like that water-squirting sonic cleaner wand,) and they'll give you whatever you need to be comfortable, as long as it's legal. ;-)

I hope you find a really cool dentist that takes good care of you.

Julie

[PCIntern]

6. I actually have very few of those...

here and there, but most have been attending a dental office within 3 years.

[NightWatcher]

7. a few years ago, I was shamed but went to a cool dentist in Atlanta, they played Dead music

and offered gas for people who wanted it for cleanings. It was called Dental TLC and the people were very comforting.

When I can afford it, I'll drive 4 hours to go to a "Nice dentist" and not one who thrashes non-flossers

[NOW tense]

9. Before I got Married. I hadn't been to the dentist in 12 years.

Not one cavity. Not one.

[TripleKatPad]

25. You probably don't need another post of encouragement

I relate to your post, Mike. I only remember one time as a child going to the dentist for a checkup. I guess we were too poor (although I didn't know that).

As an adult, I built up an irrational fear of going, and I didn't for years. When I finally couldn't stand it, I found a dentist and went in that first time in tears, I was so ashamed. And what did I find? Everyone there was SO nice and understanding. No one pointed a finger of shame at me. Instead, they enveloped me in kindness and started taking care of business, no recriminations at all.

Many years later, I'm now at the point where I LOVE to go for checkups. I have such fun there. (I know--that's weird, but it's true.)

My advice? Just do it. I bet you have the same experience I did. And you will feel so much better...about everything.

[kas125]

27. Please go if you can afford to. I finally went to the one who advertises

that they have payment plans since I have no insurance and no real income. (I am the full time caretaker for my elderly and ill father) Their plan was that I could pay a thousand dollars a week for eight weeks, which might as well have been a million dollars a week because I didn't have it. That was four years ago and I still haven't been back; I just wake up every morning amazed that I haven't died in my sleep.

What I always wonder is if lawyers have to do so many hours of pro bono work to retain their licenses, why don't dentists?

[Hannah Bell]

3. what is "the city"?

[PCIntern]

4. Philly...

but ANY city will suffice...

[Skittles]

10. hey PC

a 1st Sgt in Iraq emailed me asking for ammo to send to the Cowboy fans in his unit - I sent him this:

:D

[PCIntern]

14. Wasn't that the BEST!!!

44-6 drubbing of those scum-sucking Cowboys.

[Skittles]

15. hey, I live a quarter mile from Dallas

you should have heard all the wailing by the guys at work - didn't help with me yelling HOW ABOUT THEM COWBOYS!!! :rofl: (I am a native Illinoisan and a Bears fan)

[seabeyond]

12. we are literally watching product quantity reduce significantly and price rise.

in grocery store yesterday, five relatively cheap meals and some other stables, two junk foods and yogurts and soup was 175 friggin bucks.

coffee was 39 oz and then dropped to 34.5 oz and went up two bucks.

we know we are being fucked everywhere we turn and there are not cost of living increases

i was laughed at to find a good dental insurance i was willing to pay for by my dental office i use

health care, to take care of a simple broken limb is in the thousands.

ya,

it is scary out there.

[bobbolink]

13. Obviously, we need to disconnect health care from jobs!

Maybe NOW some people will begin to understand that?!

[Missy Vixen]

18. PCIntern, that's what's happening in Redmond, WA, too

Redmond, WA is the home of Microsoft, Nintendo, and multiple other international companies. There are two Tiffanys within thirty miles in the Seattle area, for instance, because up till last year, it was one of the most affluent areas of the country. We live just outside Redmond, and we go there to see the dentist.

Our dentist's office was overwhelmed when I saw them for a cleaning in November. We were trying to get in before we lost OUR insurance, too. We saw scores of people buying nothing but food and consumables (household cleaning products, etcetera,) at Costco in July. This was at the height of $4.50 a gallon gas, but to these guys, spending $150 to fill the car (up till last year,) was no big deal. The "returns" line at Costco the other day stretched out the door; I wondered how many of them were returning items to buy food instead.

This is hitting people of all incomes, and I can only imagine the impact on those who were hanging on before. I don't know how people with kids are making it. We've radically changed how we spend our money, (we're spending as little as possible,) and it's just the two of us and a couple of cats.

This is not something that's going to miraculously clear up when PE Obama takes office. It's going to have to be an effort on the part of government and employers to put people back to work.

Julie

[MadMaddie]

24. JulieRB you are right

I was in the Woodinville Costco and I didn't see a lot of big ticket items going but mainly food.

Gas is creaping up on the Eastside to 2.06

It's going to be rough.....

[undergroundpanther]

19. I don't wanna go

not because one of my teeth that was filled long ago chipped off near the gum line,Medicaids solution to every tooth problem besides clean it or fill it is pull it out and that extraction better be simple or I'll get a bill well over 200 bucks..Sigh. .Once that tooth is gone neither side of my jaw will be any good for chewing.It makes me want to cry.And I take good care of my teeth I was unlucky in the genetic lottery.I wish implants were not only for rich people. My mom has dentures and people I know(poor people) their dentures hurt them.I am NOT looking forward to MORE pain. Whatever designed teeth was a sadistic asshole.

[Fumesucker]

22. I have a partial denture and it does not hurt at all..

A buddy of mine makes dentures for a living and he did it for me, I never went to the dentist at all, took my own impression right there at my friend's house because he said ethically he couldn't touch me.

We did it twice because the first impression pulled away from the frame a bit when I removed it from my mouth.

If you tell your dentist you want impressions for identification purposes you can get them for around $100 or so and dentures are not that expensive if you get them straight from the person who makes them.

[PCIntern]

28. It's 'funny'...

at one time I would have sanctimoniously decried the denturist movement, but thigns have gotten so crazy that all I can say is good Luck and God-speed, and if it works, hey, that's great. Sincerely.

[Fumesucker]

30. Denturist?

Is that anything like Islamist? :)

:hi:

[PCIntern]

31. LOL...

when I first got out of school, there was a big movement to allow denturists here in PA, but it failed.

[itsrobert]

21. Well, without insurance, you can have less customers

or you can lower your prices. Your choice.

[valerief]

23. I wonder when the day will come when it's cheaper for the insurance companies

to fly us to India for dental work rather than pay for it here in the U.S. Everything is fu*cked up and we're slaves to the dollars being withheld from us.

[grace0418]

26. I met with an accountant today, recommended by a friend, to get started on my

freelance design career. A career move made necessary by my recent layoff. We talked about my next moves to get everything in order and he had to stop and say how freaked out he was by how many of his friends, family, and clients have been laid off in the last couple of months. He was thrilled to hear that I have no credit card debt, or really any other debt/loans besides a mortgage (which we can afford on my husband's salary). He said that I'm going to fare much better this year than most because of that. I hope so. But it's scary.

[spinbaby]

29. My dentist seems less busy

I got right in after the new year--she said they'd been very busy in December when people were trying to use their benefits before the end of the year, but that January was pretty slow. She was thrilled that Obama had won.

[MagickMuffin]

32. I recently had some work done, three root canals, need to go back for cleaning and crowns

however, without insurance I'm already at $2200. I can't afford to go back. I don't have the income. We opened a line of credit to get the work done with 0 interest for 18 months, but the credit company is charging us late fees after we set up online payments, and they weren't receiving them by the deadline, even though we have it sent 2 1/2 weeks from the billing deadline.:grr:

It's no wonder people are going out of the country to get the dental work done. I would if I could it would be cheaper than what I paid out so far.


Here's where I wish the government would get involved with the medical establishment. If the government bought the equipment for the medical establishment perhaps the charges wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to seek treatment. I don't think this would be viewed as "socialized medicine" but a way that would help lower income people better afford to have some form of healthcare.

[KharmaTrain]

33. A Mixed Bag Right Now...

The ones who took the biggest hits last year were those living on investments or retirment accounts. Some lost 50% or more of their value...money that went to vacations or a new car or wide screen TV, many hunkered down as they saw their assets vanish month by month. September and October were especially brutal. However, the market has levelled for now and the bleeding for those people have stopped. Not that the suffering and concern isn't or shouldn't be there, or that government assistance of some kind won't be needed, but at least for this sector, the worst has passed for now and hopefully when the economy begins to turn around these folks will be the first to recover.

The bad is the ripple that is starting to really hit the younger, working age folks. The credit crunch is biting hard and has dragged the economy to a halt. We haven't seen the crest of this wave yet as companies will cut losses (translation: jobs) and reduce inventories in order to stay alive. There was a prediction that upwards of 160,000 businesses could go under in the months ahead...that's a lot of people losing incomes, insurance and forcing the government to step in or face a major health care crisis.

Yep...hopefully those who have a few bucks left have nutted it away...burried it in a mattress, since it will be a while before this thing turns around, but thankfully we don't have a boooosh in charge to do more damage. The good side is that this collapse happened during this shitstick's last year, unlike Hoover, who mismanaged the economy for another 3 years after the 1929 crash.

Cheers...