I work as a pediatric dentist in a heavy (and I mean heavy) Medicaid office. Generally speaking, these types of offices have high cancellation rates, low fee reimbursements, and occasionally long wait times. One facet is not independent from all of the others. When the office receives such low reimbursement and has a high no-show rate, we are forced to double book patients in anticipation some patient, and occasionally entire families, may not keep their appointment(s). It is a necessary evil. Thankfully, I have the help of a well-trained staff, and together we have learned to tough through those overwhelming moments when everybody decides to show up. We understand everyone’s time is valuable and we try and respect it by staying on schedule whenever possible.

Usually, if our office receives a negative review, it almost always is not directed directly at me. Someone will leave disgruntled remarks about an insurance issue they faced or, like the other day, voice their frustration about our office policy on needing to perform a ‘consultation’ before we are able to schedule a new patient for any dental treatment. The irony is that the lady had enough time to leave a lengthy 1-star review for an office she had never visited yet claimed we tried to “waist” her time and gas by making her drive to our office so we could properly evaluate her child’s behavior and treatment needs.

I do not know if it is because I take pride in my chair-side manner, and the fact that I thoroughly try to explain my thought process in developing my diagnoses and treatment plans to each and every parent; but when I received a negative Yelp review the other day, I couldn’t help but take it hard. We had an anxious 6-year-old girl come in last week, brand new to a dental setting, who had multiple decayed teeth, an abscess and has been in pain for the last month. The mom, who was in the room initially, was very pleasant and seemed to understand the options I had presented. I recommended we try and save some baby teeth with cavities, while the abscessed one was better off being extracted. I also informed her that because the patient is new to a dentist, perhaps giving an oral sedative to relax her a bit may offer her a better experience. She completely agreed and went up front to schedule. Just moments after they left for the waiting room, the grandmother of the child comes in and adamantly proclaims she wants all the infected teeth extracted, stating they are “just baby teeth” and that she knows what [baby] “root canals” are like and she does not want her [grand-daughter] going through that. Oh, yeah, and she wanted it done right away versus scheduling for a conscious sedation like I had recommended.

A quick side-note if I may: Baby teeth are IMPORTANT! They save space for the adult teeth to erupt into, they keep bone in the jaw stimulated and strong, and they can potentially spread their infection along to the adult teeth.

I am used to parents minimizing and misunderstanding how important baby teeth are. Heck, I did before I specialized. Now it is my job to educate them on not only how best to keep them clean and healthy; but also explain the duration of time we naturally need to have them around for in our mouths. Most are receptive and appreciative to get that information – and start to see some value in the baby dentition. This grandparent, however, had already made up her mind that those teeth should be pulled. After I started to get the sense that she could care less about my recommendations; I basically told her I do not feel that [extractions] is in the best interest of the child, I cannot allow her (who, mind you, was not even the legal guardian) to dictate the treatment that I provide, and I encouraged her to seek care elsewhere. Keep in mind, at no point did I change my tone or demeanor, I simply said something she did not like hearing. Sure enough, shortly after this encounter, a Yelp review appears saying how “rude” I was for stating she was trying to dictate my treatment and how she did not understand how I deal with kids all day.

I am pleased to report MOST on-line reviews about our practice are positive. In spite of our mildly lengthy wait times, people usually find the service we provide efficient yet thorough. In fact, that is the most common source of new patients coming into our office – beating out word-of-mouth, pediatrician and general dentist referrals. Luckily this ladies complaint will fade into the abyss of compliments and praise we receive from most people that visit us. And as I have said before, I try to be empathetic, the sweet girl has been having pain and that is never easy for a loved one to witness. Nonetheless, the sheer audacity of coming into a dentist’s office and telling them how to do their job is a bit overly brazen if you ask me.

Look, I get that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I strongly believe that. God knows I have left my share of positive and negative reviews. For the few negative ones that I have been inclined to leave, I always appreciate when a business owner responds and goes out of their way to contact me to make things right. But this is not a ‘Taco Bell screwed up my order so let’s give them a 1-star review,’ kind-of scenario. In other industries too, but especially in health-care, you should put the majority of trust and treatment decisions on the person that went to school for it.

I will admit, I love getting positive reviews. I check at least a couple times a day to see if we have any new postings. I think it is human nature to feel that sense of accolade and approval from the people you work hard to serve. And while I have little concern that the recent negative review will damage my clinics overall stellar reputation in any significant way; I cannot help but feel a little outraged at the temerity some people have. I am used to the occasional snipe about our wait-times, and understand our office policies may piss some people off; but I draw the line when people can come into their friendly neighborhood pediatric dental office and treat it as if it is their local fast food joint – order whatever they want and have it done immediately at their beck and call.

This post feels like a bad review about bad reviews. Thanks for letting me have this rant and get this off my chest. I do not think anything changes for me, I still plan to leave both good and bad reviews for other businesses; overall I still find them useful and effective. Personally, before I post the bad ones, I think maybe sleeping on it and letting emotions settle down first is always a good idea. Maybe the less bridges we burn, the better sometimes. Anyways, as always, let me know your thoughts! Thanks for visiting!