posted on Oct, 27 2011 @ 11:48 AM
Well, lo and behold....took my son to the dentist and NOTHING was found. No concerns, no cavities. Even took $72 worth of xrays to be sure.
I called the hygienist that sent this letter and hopefully made his day bad! I asked who was going to pay the money for the xrays now that nothing
was found...or were they just so inept that paperwork got switched and they sent to the wrong kid. He informed me that their concern was some
recession on his bottom gums...and that normally before the letter would be received by a parent they would make a point to phone and let the parent
know exactly what the issue was. He, however, had been called out of the office for several days to attend personal business and didn't get a chance
to phone me.
Firstly...your personal business is not my problem. If I leave my work for any reason, there is someone to fill in to take over my job...so someone
else should've phoned. Secondly, why not just write the concern on the letter you sent. My child's name and the date are handwritten on the
letter, so at some point as it crossed your desk you had pen in hand...
I then asked what would happen in the case of me not sending the letter back..."would you call Children's Aid on me?" (i'm in Canada btw). He
laughed and said technically yes....Not specifically in my case as it was not an overt case of a parent not caring for their child's dental health.
But, if they saw a child with obvious dental issues they would send out 2 letters. A third would be sent out registered so they knew you received it.
At that point if there was still no communication they would phone the authorities. But again...he was quick to inform me that my case was not even
close to needing those tactics. Well that's nice...but how am I to know that without that very informative phone call home?? Had I spent the $72 in
lieu of paying a bill, or feeding my children, or whatever, your apology for personal problems is not going to cut it for me.
Then, i'm sure, to try to appease me he said he was glad I called because it was generally the parents that DID care and were taking care of their
child's dental health that called and were pissed off...so he was not concerned about my son at this point. He told me he wanted to send out that
letter for his own "peace of mind" that it was being followed up on. He then informed me that he had made a note in my son's "file" (now they
have a file on him?) and because it wasn't of great concern that I didn't even have to return the dentist signed paperwork. I told him "well...for
MY peace of mind, i'm sending you the signed letter and you can stick it in my son's FILE so there will be no questions in the future about whether
or not I had followed up just in case a "personal problem" comes up and someone else takes a look at his FILE"
To my dentist's credit he added a little note to the letter stating that nothing (underlined) was found and that his regularly scheduled checkup was
in 2 months.
Half a day off work, child pulled out of school and $72 in xrays. I should send the damn letter registered mail back to them..."just to be sure you
got it"
Just on a side note how's this for creepy. When I called him the hygienist asked which school I was calling about. I said "blah blah blah public
school" and he responded nearly immediately with "oh you're calling about Ryan..." I literally almost choked on my coffee!! I know i'm spending
far too much time on ATS when that made me completely paranoid LOL. I'm sure they either subscribe to call display or Ryan was the only one that was
sent a letter..but it did freak me out and disconcert me for about 30 seconds.
Be careful and be sure to brush your kids' teeth or they'll come get you!
Michelle