"Gypsy Dentists"

When I lived in Arizona, a few months before I moved, I went to the dentist with a tooth-ache. Dentists seemed to have changed recently. Where they used to just patch me up, now I feel like I am at a used car lot whenever I go to a new one. They want to "give me an estimate" on all the dental work I can have done. When they want to "give you an estimate" it means you have DENTAL INSURANCE. It also seems to mean, they get dollar signs in their eys.

It had been a few years since I had been to the dentist and when they did the xrays, It was discovered that I had two teeth that needed root canals. The tooth that was bothering me was to go first. After the obligatory 2 weeks of anti-biotics, they referred me to an endodontist. They stated that they could not do this root canal at their office.

After getting that root canal, a few weeks later, I called their office about getting the my xrays for the other tooth, so that I could go back to the endodontist for my other root canal. They wanted my fax number to send me my "estimate" for all the dental work they wanted to perform. I politely informed the girl on the phone that I would be moving in the near future and would not need their services. She sounded disapointed. She then informed me that her office could perform the second root canal that I needed done. Surprised, I stated something to the effect that the office had told me you couldn't do the first, she said they could do this one. I didn't really think to question her, I thought maybe this was a less difficult tooth.

I have not blogged for a number of days because I have had a horrible tooth ache. The aching tooth? The second tooth that my dentist "performed the root canal on". Today, I drug myself to the dentist and begged them to give me a shot. I told the dentist that I did not feel there was any hope for this tooth due to a recent root canal. They did the xrays and low and behold, it has not had a root canal. No root canal, what does that mean? Does it mean that the AZ dentist office lied? I had already decided that even if I wasn't moving I would not have used them again. They tried to charge me more than my insurance allowed and they just seemed to be a little too excited about the possibility of my "estimate" of future services.
Did I mention they were FOREIGN. (Please don't be offended if you are reading this from another country, I am not talking about you if you don't lie. And I know the absolute fury one can feel from being stereotyped. I am from the South. And if you are of Gypsy descent, I apologise. I worked with a hilarious student once who happened to be a Gypsy. He seemed to be very honest.) I have noted in my limited experience with these sorts of things, that some people from other cultures seem to "lie" about things. They don't seem to consider it lying or wrong. Or maybe they do, I don't know. I feel ill. I have to go to bed. I wish sometimes I had dentures.