February 27, 2007 by SUM.

I consider the experience at the Lake Washington Technical College quite unusual and strange. It’s an experience which placed me in a very uncomfortable and agonizing position.

The reason for visiting this institution had been that the LWTC dental clinic offers dental services for a lower fee. And that is of special interest to those who have no dental insurance and have to pay for all the costs by themselves.

How did it come to the point that I needed to consult a dentist? On Saturday, February 7th 2004, I visited a friend in Fairhaven, a small town next to Bellingham. While driving back home I chewed on a caramel candy and suddenly a gold filling fell out of my molar and stuck to the candy. That was the beginning of a months long ordeal. But at that moment I just knew I had to consult a dentist.

Since I didn’t have any dental insurance I was looking for a dental clinic that offers lower fees but still provides quality care. I decided to give the dental clinic at the Lake Washington Technical College a call. And I was scheduled for an initial appointment on February, 24th 2004.

When I arrived at the dental clinic, I noticed a few things that appeared first as co-incidental, but with time I came to a different conclusion. At my first arrival less pictures were displayed on the walls in the hallway of the clinic than a few weeks later. After about 2 weeks pictures with the name Team 1997 hung on the walls. My divorce had been in 1997. Before I entered the building the first time I noticed a guy who resembled someone I had met in 1997. That wasn’t the only reason why he attracted my attention. This guy drove a car whose license plate had the numerological value of my name on it. I’ll talk about names and their numerological values as well as numerological pattern recognition at a later time.

At the dental clinic a female student examined and cleaned my teeth over a 2-week period. She made x-rays of all my teeth and cleaned them too. And I was very satisfied with her service. To fix the problem with my molar I was scheduled to see a dentist who works at the LWTC dental clinic.

My appointment with a dentist was on Tuesday, March 2nd. On that day a dentist drilled a hole (carved away the cement) in my molar to see whether some decay had developed underneath the cement that was still on top of my pulpa. After he had removed the cement, he told me that he could see decay and even my nerve. And he suggested having a root canal done before I put a crown on top of this tooth. Since I didn’t have any dental insurance I thought I just take my chance and have the gold filling re-cemented. Therefore I asked the dentist to just do that. And he did something on my tooth, but on the same evening at 9 PM the gold filling popped out of my tooth, again. I actually couldn’t see any cement on the gold filling, and I started to wonder whether the gold filling had been actually re-cemented. Since I had this big hole in my molar I decided to go back to the clinic the next day.

In the waiting room I spotted the personal assistance of the dentist who supposedly had re-cemented my crown. I told her what had happened the previous evening and said to her that it looked to me that not enough cement had been on the gold filling. She answered briefly, “I don’t know you have to ask the doctor.” I thought this is strange. She had been the one who had mixed the cement, assisted the dentist and had stood next to the dental chair. On that day I didn’t see the dentist who I had seen the previous day. I consulted with an Asian dentist. He also suggested a root canal procedure. The dentist who had re-cemented my gold filling had told me that no root canals are done at the clinic, but the Asian dentist told me that root canals are done at the LWTC dental clinic. I was even given the dentist’s name who does root canals at the LWTC dental clinic. Additionally, I received a yellow copy on which the RC and the appointment with this dentist was written. But I was told that they didn’t have his schedule at hand and that I needed to call back at a later time to schedule an appointment with this specific dentist. The dental clerk told me to call in middle of March for scheduling an RC. Since I didn’t know the clinic’s procedures and practices and even assumed that this dentist might be on vacation I decided to wait for 12 days. In the mean time I tried to take good care of a tooth with a gaping hole.

On Monday, March 15th, I called the dental clinic to have an appointment for a root canal scheduled. The dental clerk told me that she’ll call me back in 2 days and let me know whether the doctor would do a root canal on my molar. I found this very strange. I had it in writing that a RC would be done by this dentist. Two days later she called me back and told me that he wouldn’t do a root canal on a molar. Since I had this gaping hole I requested an appointment so that the hole is at least temporarily sealed. I got the appointment for the next day.

So, on Thursday, 18th March I went back to the dental clinic to have my tooth temporarily sealed. I asked the dental clerk with whom I had talked on the phone the last few days why the dentist wouldn’t do a root canal on my molar though I had been told otherwise. She told me that he had said to her “The State doesn’t pay me enough money to do a root canal on a molar.” And she added that they are a school, and if I want to, I could write to the people in Olympia/State government.

Later that evening I decided to write two persons who are responsible for the managerial affairs at the LWTC. In short details I described what had transpired at the dental clinic.

The reply was a refund cheque for services rendered. But I couldn’t and didn’t accept the cheque because my concern and/or dismay had been for being misinformed, misled, and mistreated by clinic staff.

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February 17, 2007 by SUM.

I encountered the next unusual experiences with physicians, medical clinics and practices here in Washington State.Sometimes I experienced incorrect information given to me, an above average waiting period and even a denial of treatment for some obscure reason. Some medical attention was carelessly executed therefore contributing to additional discomfort and becoming temporarily sick after just a medical preventive checkup, though I had been quite healthy before the consultation.

Therefore my next posts will deal with some of these events.

Hello visitor!

February 4, 2007 by SUM.

We all encounter unusual experiences, which we either love to remember or to forget.

Some need to be told so that others are able to make better informed decisions. And at other times, we need to tell those stories so that others can help and support us.

Firstly, I want to talk about my experiences with different doctor’s made in Germany and here in the States. Some experiences are very frightening because of the physicians carelessness or negligence and shall serve as a warning sign not to trust blindly someone with a title. I’ll dig deep into my experience chest of doctor’s visits and work my way up to the present.

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