dentistry as industrial process

All my life I'd been going to dentists in hushed offices in professional buildings. Each hygienist had a personal station inside an individual carpeted office with a closable wood-and-glass door, the dentist had his own, larger office; the ambiance was quiet and deliberate, the pace was slow and thoughtful, the buildings were in suburban or hospital-fringe professional centers.

When I graduated out of pediatric dentistry, my parents signed me up with a partner of their own dentist (because he's the one who had room for new patients) and I stayed with him for several decades - even when I was living 900 miles away for grad school, I arranged my dental appointments for when I was back visiting. (If I'd had a dental emergency, I would have had to do something else, but I never did during that period.) When he retired, he sold the practice to a younger man specializing in prosthetic work who wanted a regular practice on the side, and I've been there for several decades. I've always had excellent hygienists: very slow (which does mean you have to sit there for quite a while), very cautious and careful.

Until now. Change of insurance plan on entering medicare meant my existing dentist wasn't covered. Telling them I was parting was an unemotional business arrangement; we were friendly but not personal friends. The insurer sent me a list of covered dentists noting which ones had openings. I picked the one B. has been going to: they seemed as OK as any of the others. My first appointment was yesterday.

It's in a local shopping center, near B.'s gym and a drug store I often visit. It's part of a chain. There's no carpeting. Go through the door from the front counter and there's a long corridor with numbered open bays with dental chairs, the ambiance rather resembling auto repair bays. You're assigned a number, the hygienist comes in, then so does the dentist (a woman, by the way) who gives you a quick look-over. The hygienist is equally efficient, fast and systematic. I felt as if I was part of an industrial process.

They want me to try some things my old dentist never mentioned. They employed a laser to clean my teeth, something else new to me. I have a partially-broken tooth that isn't causing me any trouble. My old dentist had said, it probably needs a crown, but he never seemed inclined to do anything about it. I get the impression my new dentist is not going to be so casual about it. I'm returning in a month to see how the regime is going, something else I'd never had. It's a new world.