I deal with angry people on a regular basis.
It starts out cordial enough, but it can get ugly fast.
It’s not about anything I wrote; or politics; or any of the hot button issues that send people over the edge. It’s about teeth — specifically paying for the care of them.
I’m in charge of billing at a dental office. Patients call me when they’re upset about a bill they don’t understand. Apart from the surprising amount of folks who are under the misconception that we live in a land that provides universal health care coverage (i.e. Canada), the most common arguments I have are with people who can’t wrap their heads around periodontal disease.
Heads up: My oversimplified explanation will irk some, but I need to mansplain to get where I’m going.
We eat on clean plates because we know dirty plates will attract bacteria that make us sick; thus we dutifully wash our plates. Our teeth are plates with more than one surface, and we brush our teeth to clean them. But, the brush doesn’t clean between the teeth or under the gums, so we need to use something to reach those areas (e.g. floss.) Those who do not complete these steps will attract bacteria to their mouths that will feed on the bits of food and populate. A vicious cycle of plaque, inflammation and gum recession occurs until there’s nothing left to hold the teeth in the mouth UNLESS there is a dental intervention to slow the degenerative process, the type of which varies on how bad the situation is. Regardless of remedy, periodontal disease will be a lifelong problem that needs to be professionally addressed four times a year.
I encounter the angry periodontally distressed patient sometime after they discover insurance will stick them with a portion of the regular periodontal tab. The conversation can take a lot of different turns from there, but it usually concludes with either a compliant, if not discouraged, patient, or a defiant dental malcontent who vows to skip on the bill.
I understand the anger. They feel powerless in a situation that seems utterly hopeless, and furious rebellion feels like the appropriate response. Unfortunately, unless the goal is to become toothless and to slurp dinner from a straw, that’s the worst option.
Now, the approximately 30 percent of you who do floss are probably striking a you-reap-what-you-sow position. That’s not my job. I’m supposed to get patients to pay their bills. We are surrounded by situations that seem terminal and leave us feeling powerless – always have been. Don’t let the immediacy of any problem or even crisis cloud your recollection of past challenges that were resolved with courage, grit and common sense. Keep your cool, and you will find hope.
Ultimately, I dispassionately spell out the reality of the situation and say that as much as paying a $150 bill stings, untreated periodontal disease ultimately leads to more expensive problems or a life without teeth. Stick to a plan and just maybe you’ll resolve this problem.
It usually works. They pay their bills and continue the treatment. And, they keep their teeth.