Right, so the dentists have classified my wisdom teeth Category 3 -- roughly, "Yeah, these will have to come out in the next couple of years". All of a sudden yesterday, I woke up with this ridiculous headache and I can't eat anything that needs chewing. I guess the top right wisdom tooth decided to start growing forwards instead of down (it's the only one that's poked through the gum layer yet.

Anyway, the story: I go down to dental to see a doctor & get an appointment to get these things yanked out ASAP -- yesterday itself would've been just fine w/me. "Sorry, you can't set up an appointment: You're Cat 3."

No, you don't get it, DT2, I'm not Cat 3 anymore; I can't eat right now. Can I just see a doctor & get him to change my classification?

"Sorry, you can't see a doctor: You're Cat 3. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave, you're holding up the line."

How about an emergency screening?

"Emergency screenings are only for emergencies: You're Cat 3. Come back first of the year (i.e. 1st January 2005) and we'll see about reclassifying you. Now please leave immediately."

...

I'm gonna see if I can get my CAPT from orthopedics to pull some crazy O-6 rank and get these people to pull their heads out of their asses on Monday morning. In the meantime, I'm on a weekend diet of liquids, I suppose...

... oh, wait, not much different from most weekends! [img]graemlins/cheers.gif[/img]

<font color=skyblue>Where the hell do you go to the dentist at? Is your state like in a different nation? Man...I just went to the dentist a few weeks ago, and I had a great time! I was a walk-in at Dental Works, and they had me in there easy with no waiting.

Man...I hope the best for you. Maybe you should go to another place, and sign a release form on your x-rays so that you can go where you find the best practitioners.

Never take abuse like that, man. You can always go where your money is appreciated.</font>

Ooops, I guess I forgot to mention something: This is Naval Medicine, where people are paid anyway & firing somebody takes months (and usually doesn't work anyway).

So, my money's not appreciated, because I don't pay. Whether this voids my right to complain is still up in the air...

Dentists suck but oral surgeons swallow. I saw one yesterday, and we met for 10 minutes, shook hands, he answered 3 to 5 questions. The standard bill for this first "consultation" -- $95US.

Next time I see him, I'm gonna kick him in the balls. I figure it's the only way I'll get my money's worth.

Yes, that does void your right to complain. You get what you pay for, mostly.

LOL! I like that approach, TL! And you can defend yourself in the following case as well... [img]smile.gif[/img]

Gotta love bureaucrazies, Aleph_null1! Maybe what you need to do is to go to a doctor for the problem, who can then determine that it needs to be reviewed by a dentist, who can then upgrade you so you can get 'em yanked [img]smile.gif[/img]

If that doesn't work, you may want to follow Timber's advice. Not only will you get your money's worth, you may also get booted and be able to go to a regular dentist to get it handled ;)

Good luck to you. Hope you enjoy soup and jell-o :D

Erm...shouldn't it be "dentists pull" ? [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

Oh don't get me started with dentists. 4 years ago I had a dentist check, and she said that I have no 5s, nowhere. More than a year ago then, I had a physical check-up, and when the guy was counting my teeth, he went "Upper left now, one OK. Two OK. Three OK. Four OK. Five OK." and there I interrupted "Ghal! Whla!(me having his mirror and pick in my mouth) Fives? You0're saying I have fives? Could you please count them?" Yep, you guessed, I have all my teeth here and accounted for... Dentists are stupid.
And as for the wisdom teeth, my lower right is starting to pop out, I can feel the teeth making room.

Trust me, I have had some pretty bad experiences with dentists. About two years ago, I went to have my teeth cleaned, and the moronic woman that did the cleaning not only chipped off the back of my front bottom teeth, but came up with the witty comment of "My your gums are bleeding rather badly" after proceeding to shove a metal measuring rod into them over 20 times. Of course, then the actual dentist came in to finish up, and I will not be going back anytime soon.

Have you tried painkillers? I was in agony when my wisdom teeth started coming through. I took some painkillers which I think were called co-codemal (not illegal, in case anyone was getting suspicious [img]smile.gif[/img] ) and it stopped hurting after a couple of hours. Also, it made me feel very tripped out.