I called the dentist office on late Friday afternoon as I started to feel pain in the back of tooth (gum?) but the office was closed. Fortunately, the situation didn’t worsen over the weekend. I called first thing this morning, Monday, and the front desk staff fit me into the schedule right away. 2 hours later I was at the dentist office.
When I checked-in, I found out that me my appointment was at 11AM instead of 10AM as I was told in the call. I asked if it’d be possible to see another doctor or my doctor might be available sooner and I was told there was only one doctor on duty and he was booked till 11AM. I live too far to go back ‘n forth and if reschedule, it’d take even more time from work so I wait. The front desk staff apologized for the miscommunication. I was unhappy about the situation yet I bit my tongue, not to make a big scene.
A few minutes later, to my surprise, a dentist assistant came to get me. The front desk staff explained to her the mistake of time and asked her to let the doctor know. The assistant sat me at a station, checked my ‘troubled’ section, and went to talk to the doctor. She came back and said ‘doctor recommended an X-ray to check the tooth and gum’ and she did. A few minutes later, doctor came, checked my teeth, gum, and X-ray results. He told me that he didn’t see any infection or decay (great). I have my wisdom teeth which make a tight space in the back, perhaps some irritation and he recommended ‘watch ‘n see for now’. I’m relieved that nothing is serious and I keep all my teeth. When I left the dental station, it was 11AM…
On my ride home, I thought of the experience…I’m thankful to the front desk staff who got me in quickly, owned her mistake, and tried to find a remedy. I’m thankful to the dental team who cared, coordinated with each other, and found ways to serve patients better. Moreover, I’m thankful to have learned ‘empathy’…before we react, ask ourselves: what would I like to be treated if I were the other person?