This shouldn't hurt

Normally a trip to the dentist is no biggie for Panda!!!!, but this morning's trip has left me reeling a bit. Every time I go to the dentist, a new hygienist does the cleaning, then my dentist comes in to perform a final inspection. In the past, the hygienist has been a perky blonde whose friendly demeanor and gentle touch have helped to put me at ease, but today's cleaner was a curt lady who was all about business.

Unlike her predecessors, today's hygienist never explained the steps she was taking and was really rough with the scraper. Whereas in the past, I was chided by the hygienist for not flossing enough, this lady jabbed at my gums and scolded me, "This wouldn't be as uncomfortable if you flossed! You need to floss!" But you know what? I haven't changed my dental habits since my last visit and the pain last time wasn't as acute.

And during past visits, the hygienist didn't have to ask, "Are you okay?" multiple times. Nor did she put a pair of goggles over my eyes during the procedure. Nor did she lean her elbow on my nose as she reached across my face to get her dental instruments.

Finally, when the cleaning ended, it was time for my dentist to enter for his final examination. But instead, the dentist's partner came in! I inquired about my own dentist's whereabouts and he responded that he is potentially moving his practice to Sacramento so the partner was taking on all patients. You'd think a common courtesy would be to inform said patients. And while he poked around my mouth during the examination, he said, "This shouldn't hurt" because I think he could tell that I was a little shell-shocked from the poking I'd just received.