How Long Is My Appointment?

Patients May 22nd, 2008

Patients ask me that sometimes as they sit in the chair. Depending on my mood I’ll joke with them and ask them how long they’ve got.008b01c88e1602e780906300a8c044.jpg

Remember that convict that I saw for consultation a while back? His first of two treatment (retreatment) appointments was today.

Him: So how long am I gonna be here today?

Me chuckling: How much time do you…have?

I realized the context of that statement after I said it. He looked at me sadly.

Him with a shrug: My whole life.

Me: Oh. Well you’ll be done here before that.

The Guards: *chuckle*

I didn’t ask any more silly questions for the rest of the appointment.


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  • http://whatsuphighup.blogspot.com Laney

    that’s too funny! but you know, i hate it when pple ask me how long the appointment will be. i just tell them, well, ur booked for an hour, i’m pretty sure it’ll take less than that, and if not, ur coming back another time! seriously, sometimes, when i’m having a bad day, i can be really rude….and it sounds ruder in my broken german with an accent lol!

    Laney’s last blog post..Why I Left Twitter

  • http://www.kamalalewis.wordpress.com Kamala

    I usually just look at people with a confused look on my face and don’t answer. If they ask me again, I tell them three hours. That way when they are done in an hour they think I’m really speedy! :)

  • http://www.fragileheart.com/journal/ fragileheart

    lol Peri. Silly, silly.

    Laney, but sometimes you have to know because if you’ve made plans or something afterwards? lol What context do you mean? I’m talking about hair appointments hahahaha. In the convict’s case, I don’t think he was asking becuse he had somewhere else to be though.

    fragileheart’s last blog post..Oh yes, he did! David Cook is the new American Idol!

  • http://www.fragileheart.com/journal/ fragileheart

    Oh, oh, oh! I just noticed that lovely plug-in you have for ‘Blogroll Activity’! Where did you find that? I mean do you surf plug-ins everyday or something?!! So cool!

    fragileheart’s last blog post..Oh yes, he did! David Cook is the new American Idol!

  • http://www.endodontics.ca Periapex

    fragile: Info on my blogroll thing can be found here (4th last paragraph). I’ve had that since I started the blog on WordPress.

    Kamala: You’re a mean dentist. I’d be scared to come see you.

    Laney: I actually say exactly the same thing to my pts also. They’re booked for such and such a length of time or until such and such, but we will probably finish earlier.

  • http://www.fragileheart.com/journal/ fragileheart

    Oh. Apparently I’m just not very observant. Either that or your posts are just so enthralling I don’t notice anything else on your blog =P

    Um… I still don’t understand why it’s not a valid question! Hello, we have lives you know… AND we’re paying you so you don’t get to keep us from the rest of our lives?!?!?! =D I mean all that in the nicest way possible hehhehe

    fragileheart’s last blog post..Oh yes, he did! David Cook is the new American Idol!

  • http://www.fragileheart.com/journal/ fragileheart

    p.s. Bah humbug… it’s a script using Google Reader. I’ll have to look into it when I decide to start subscribing hehehehe :D

    fragileheart’s last blog post..Oh yes, he did! David Cook is the new American Idol!

  • http://www.edkieu.com Edgar

    The rudest I go when answering as question asking me how long it will take is “As long as I deem fit”.

    You should have told him “If nothing goes wrong, you’ll be done here before that”

  • http://haleyhughes.blogspot.com haleyhughes

    On the serious side, I can see where if patients have anxiety about dental visits, they might want to know so that they can adequately prepare themselves, mentally.

    On the not-so-serious-side, context does make all the difference with a statement like that. I don’t even want to think about the time I thanked the “M&M Fairy” for stocking the candy dish at work. As the words came out of my mouth, I remembered he was gay. Fortunately, he laughed.

    haleyhughes’s last blog post..Some public goal-setting — *gulp*

  • http://whatsuphighup.blogspot.com Laney

    fragileheart: i see your point. sometimes, for us dental folks, it’s hard to take off our dental provider hats and put on patient hats. they do say doctors make the worst patients. but i’m a good patient acutally, just ask my dental hygienist friend who cleans my teeth, lol. and i’m only rude when it’s been a hairy day, otherwise i’m pretty good and try to tell patients as exact as possible how long they’ll have to endure.

    but i have to say, my least favourite patients are the “are we done yet?” ones, looking at their watch, sighing and “are we done yet?”. oh, that just drives me absolutely mad and that’s when it turns ugly, lol.

    Laney’s last blog post..Why I Left Twitter

  • Calculus

    Laney: Funny, I don’t have that problem when giving a massage.

  • http://www.kamalalewis.wordpress.com Kamala

    Peri:

    Actually, I’m a very nice dentist, I just have a twisted sense of humor. Most people come to see me because someone else told them that “Kamala’s office” didn’t feel like a dental office and they had a really good time. I love to joke around and most patients watch my eyes during their appointment to see if I’m serious or not. I think teasing and sarcasm make the day go faster… :)

    Kamala’s last blog post..My Geek Factor

  • http://www.waittimes.blogspot.com Ian Furst

    I think I’m the only sap here because I kinda’ feel sorry for the poor prisoner. He’s probably scared to be in the dentists’ chair, wearing ‘jewelry’ and then (from his point of view) the dentist goofs on him that he’s got a life sentence. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen my fair share of the Don Jail and empathy wouldn’t be the first emotion that comes to mind but the way you describe it Peri sounds kind of sad.

    Ian Furst’s last blog post..Some Things are Worth Waiting For

  • http://www.endodontics.ca Periapex

    fragile: But you’re also paying us to do as good of a job as possible. That sometimes takes an unpredictable amount of time.

    Edgar: I try to avoid words like “Pain”, “hurt”, “oops”, and terms like “something has gone wrong”. Makes for a less stressful patient, and thus a less stressful me. I prefer to say something like, “If things go really well and you help me out, we’ll be done earlier.” Same thing, but said more positively. Is that a bit of NLP?

    Haley: During my training, my pediatric dentistry supervisor was gay and very flamboyant about it (I attended a pride party at his place one year). He dressed as the Queen of Hearts that day. Hmm, can’t remember if I’ve ever posted about that party…

    Laney: Yeah, the watch-lookers bother me too, especially the ones that do it during the appointment. If they do it at the end of the appointment, some are obviously interested in the time and where they are in their daily schedule. Others (and you can usually tell who they are) are calculating how much money per hour I’m apparently making. As if my staff work for free and my equipment just fell out of the sky into my office.

    Kamala: Twisted because you’re a geek. Doesn’t it freak you out when patients stare at your face while you’re working? Gives me the heebeejeebees. Good thing I don’t see anything but the tooth when I’m looking through the scope.

    Ian (and the other saps here): He did say that it was the best dental appointment he has ever had. I said “really??” in genuine surprise. He had trouble with the rubber dam, needed to be topped up with anesthetic through the procedure, and was drowning in his own spit. So I guess things turned out ok for him. He’s human just like the rest of our patients, and even though he is in jail for a reason, that’s no reason to treat him any less humanly.

  • http://www.edkieu.com Ed

    Sounds like what NLP people call “hypnotic language”. Yea I use “discomfort” instead of “pain” to lessen their anxiety. Some of my patients’ stress-coping mechanisms include talking non-stop which gets in the way of an efficient use of treatment slots so this does help a bit.

  • http://www.endodontics.ca Periapex

    I don’t have to worry so much about the talkers because I use the rubber dam on practically every patient. I did have one patient who talked through an apical surgery. I was quite impressed.

  • http://www.amid.com/werd/ Rudy

    Actually, I tried to talk to my dentist 2 weeks ago during my cleaning. I just couldn’t do it because there were so much water. All I could do was “glurgh, bluuurgh, glluuurrgh”.

    Rudy’s last blog post..My Typical Friday (Fun with Brands)

  • http://www.endodontics.ca Periapex

    That’s ok, talking just slows things down. Raise your hand if something hurts or you need a break…

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