So I get a letter in the mail yesterday that my wife and I had been dropped by our dentist because we have missed multiple appointments. Supposedly we both had 6 month check up appointments last week.

1) We never set those appointments up. We were there in December and they wanted to set up an appointment for me, but I said no, I'd call and set it up. We had the mail on hold the last two weeks because we were gone and within that time they sent reminder cards, which I saw yesterday when I got my mail, along with the letter.

2) What's this crap about missed appointments? My wife missed one over a year ago because she had to be admitted into the hospital. I called them after I remembered she had an appointment, explained it to them what happened, and they told me no problem just call back and setup a new one. So in 2 years my wife missed 2 appointments and I missed one. Apparently that is grounds for dismissal.

They also were kind enough to say in the letter: "apparently you don't care about your dental hygiene as much as we do"

Oh well, you just lost business.

hell of a way to run a business ...

Wow. Thats really pushy. Ive never had that happen, but I have canceled my last 4 eye appointments because of work, so I might get a letter from them.

That sucks. I would staple that letter to the dentists head!

The reality is more like you're being dropped from their direct mail/patient loyalty campaign. or plan b - part of the strategy is to drop patients and crank up the renewal appointment rate.

dentists are fairly agressive marketers. Some more than others. No shortage of competent docs though.

Letters like that are usually computer-generated and the only human who sees them is the one inserting them into envelopes. THAT person doesn't care one iota......

You've got an opportunity to shop around OR contact your dentist's office manager and demand a big discount. And an apology delivered with a healthy measure of remorse would be nice, too.

Well also the husband of our dentist runs the financial part of the business and has no problem getting in your face about stuff like payments or making sure you make a payment before you set up certain appointments, etc.

The last time he did that, it was to my wife. He made a scene in front of other patients and started making comments about our finances.

Yeah my wife stopped that pretty quick.

Its probably best that we move on.

Dentists are the towing companies of the medical world. Those greedy bastards will stop at nothing to rape your wallet. By not showing up to a service you didn't ask for they were not able to dig deeper into your life savings so they are trading you out for some one who will.

Sorry. Open wound there. I hate dental business practices so much that I should just move to the UK where no one cares what my mouth looks like.

As much as I want to say more, I'll just say - that really sucks. Hope you find a new dentist you like a lot better.

I have done home loans for a great number of dentists. They are usually on what amounts to commission, they get a % of the procedures they can drum up.

As someone else said, many times they are the towing companies of the medical industry. To defend dentists, not all work this way, mostly I have seen this type of pay structure at these Dental Clinics.

You are probably better off trying to find a professional dentist rather than just a convenient one.

Hmm...my dentist sends out a postcard prior to each checkup, and they also call the day before to confirm. In fact, I have my 6 month checkup tomorrow morning.

Been going to the same dentist for close to 30 years now.

What is this dentist thing you all speak of?

I knew my dentist long before I knew he was a dentist - he comes & autocrosses occasionally. 8)

wow, business must be good. You should see the M series BMW our ortho guy drove. I was impressed!

http://boothorthodontics.com/OfficeInfo/AboutDrBooth.aspx

My wife is a hair stylist, she usually stops booking clients once they have missed 2 appointments.

When you don't show up for an appointment you are costing the business money.

Datsun1500 wrote:

hell of a way to run a business ...

From what I read you missed appointments which costs them money and are late on payments, while it is a little odd to send out a postcard to let you know they are done with you, it is understandable. They moved on to the people that show up and pay them. It is actually a pretty smart way to run a business...

You missed the part where he never actually made said appointments.

Find another one. Call, face to face or email the last one and suggest in difficult economic times and in a world where customer service matters, it must be nice to be able to give the bum's rush to a paying customer.

But that's just me .....

Plenty more in the world. No need to build up hate when you can replace them easy.

I'd try not to let it get under my skin and google map me a new one.

I can say I've never had a dentist treat me that way. Most dentists I've visited have been good guys just trying to do a good job.

What's sad is I've been going to the dentist for about 7 years, technically longer, because she was the associate of my original dentist and she took it over when he retired. I've gone their since I was in junior high, so we're talking over 15 years.

I'm not going to let it bother me, but I thought it was stupid. Time for a new dentist.

Send them your own little letter. Include a printout of a glowing online recommendation for your new dentist, and a copy of this post. Never get mad, always get even.

My dentist is a family friend, who just started out on his own. So, I don't have much worry. Before that, I never had a problem with any dentist I went to. None of them were "used car salesmen".

I hate dentists. I have REM Sleep disorder which I will save you from having to know about. I grind my teeth in my sleep. My prior dentist fixed the damage... but not very well. The fillings have fallen out and I have two open teeth. I have to make sure food stays out of one of the holes or else sweets will actually hit my nerves and it doesn't feel too good. In all I think I have six damaged teeth. My fronts are pearly white for the most part. I don't expect to have most my rear teeth. A member of my family with the same soft teeth issue has had all his teeth in the back removed and he wears false teeth. He also has a mullet.

z31maniac wrote: My wife is a hair stylist, she usually stops booking clients once they have missed 2 appointments. When you don't show up for an appointment you are costing the business money.

When your wife makes appointments for clients who declined them is that good business.

If any way possible put 3 fresh shrimp head on in his door panel of his vehicle , have wife call his wife tell her she is pregnant with his kid , call his mother tell her son is dead horrible combine accident ect ect