Honest service is hard to find

It occurs to me that in the service-oriented industries whose services we frequently consume, it's very difficult to find an honest, reliable provider. And I don't just mean a friendly smile in your local fast-food establishment, I'm talking about professionals to whom you shell out big bucks for important services. Auto mechanics and plumbers come to the forefront of my mind as an example. As do doctors, dentists, lawyers, realtors, mortgage lenders... all these folks charge a pretty penny for their services, and if you wind up with a bad product/service, it's more than just a bad meal or experience you can shrug about-- this is significant investments of your time, money, and health. Even hairstylists fall under this realm-- while not as life-threatening as a doctor who carelessly prescribes you meds or as bank-breaking as a lawyer who bilks you of hundreds of dollars for idle "work", it's still annoying to come out of the salon with an awful haircut because the stylist didn't know how to work with your hair type.

This is why, twice a year, we pile into the car and make the hour-and-a-half (with good traffic) drive to see the family dentist. Dentists probably rank right up there with auto mechanics for being notorious for doing unneeded work (and charging exorbitantly for it) under the assumption that the average consumer doesn't know any better, and won't realize that he doesn't *really* need this procedure done, or that there is a cheaper alternative. I've experienced my fair share of them when I was at UCSB, whose health insurance policy forced me to use the on-campus dentists. Speaking of health insurance, that expensive thing didn't give me coverage worth crap-- I still ended up paying loads out of my own pocket, especially with dental care. Might as well have seen a non-campus dentist and paid out of my own pocket-- probably would've been cheaper that way! But... that's another rant, for another time.

The reason we travel so far to see our dentist is because he's one of the few honest types you can expect to find. He does his own cleaning, keeps detailed records of the condition of your teeth and compares them from your last visit, and generally prefers to keep an eye on potential problems rather than jump straight into fixes that might not even be necessary. He also mounts LCD monitors on the dental chair so you can see your own X-rays onscreen right after they've been taken. How handy, and much easier than straining to see the film he's holding up against a light on the other side of the room ;-)

There's a crack in one of my back molars that has gotten worse since the last visit. It's not a great cause for worry, but if anything hard gets inside that crack, it could serve as a wedge (think how the wedge shape of an axe head enables it to split wood) and crack the tooth in two. Our dentist didn't outright tell me that I should get it fixed, but gave me a few options: 1) a crown (more expensive, but longer lasting) 2) filling (cheaper) or 3) do nothing-- and just take care not to bite down on anything hard on that side of my mouth. I think at this point it is obvious that work probably should be undertaken on that tooth, but even then he was reluctant to push treatment, since my tooth was still in good shape. Still, prevention at this point is a good idea, and the fact that he wasn't ramming "OMG, you've GOT to get this fixed ASAP!" down my throat makes it that much more palatable.

Time to make an appointment soon...

An honest, reliable, friendly dentist. Hard to find, and well worth the long drive from Santa Barbara to LA twice a year :-)