Unbelievable!!

Two questions:

1. Why is it so hard to find a good dentist/doctor/mechanic/etc.? I mean a good one, that is honest and trustworthy and isn't out to rip you off.

2. Why is every old person in Florida so concerned about my baby's feet being cold and insists on making comments about it wherever I go? Why? Today a lady at Target was sure my peacefully sleeping baby was on the brink of some illness caused by cold feet and even tried to warm them up. "Aren't his feet cold?" she said, to which I replied, "Well, he hasn't mentioned it yet." I know they have good intentions, but this has bothered me since the first time it happened with Erin (it's happened with all my kids) and I'm finally getting it off my chest. I'm not sure if they know this, but we live in Florida, FLORIDA! Just because they wear a sweater when it's 90 degrees and 85% humidity doesn't mean everyone else is cold. I'm usually more concerned with overdressing my kids than not putting enough on them.

Back to the real reason for this post. For quite a while I have not been too happy with my dentist. Okay, for a really long time. It's not that I think he's a bad dentist, it's just that I wouldn't know if he was or not because I never ever saw him. Oh, I went in faithfully every six months all right, but he never checked me. Granted, I was pregnant quite a bit and didn't always get x-rays, but even when I did the hygienist would just come back and say "no cavities" and I'd see her again in six months. Weird, right? (I found out today that it's a law that the dentist has to see you at least every 12 months.)

So I've been on a search for a while and hadn't been in for over a year because of it. After my teeth started getting too fuzzy I decided to crack down and find a new dentist. I got a bunch of recommendations and eventually found one that was in my insurance network that one of my friends went to.

When I went in they did a bunch of x-rays and then came back to say that I had 5 cavities. Five!!! Keep in mind, I have only ever had three in my life and that was over 12 years ago. So now to hear that I had five was devastating. She said they were "flossing" cavities--basically really small ones in between the teeth. Okay, so I had gotten out of the habit of flossing, but five? She kept asking me if I ate a lot of candy or drank a lot of Coke. No, I have not done anything different with my diet in years. I wondered if maybe I had these cavities before and that my old dentist never caught them (you know, since he never saw me).

But that's not all. Then they brought in the estimate of charges. Our insurance covers 80% of all fillings, which was shown, but they also tacked on all these other charges that ended up being $700 out of pocket! Seriously? I already felt like crap after the five cavity bomb but this really made me feel uneasy. I called back later to have them explain the charges and the office manager could only tell me what one of them was, but not the rest. Bad sign.

Also, I was there for an hour and a half and when I was leaving asked if I would be getting a cleaning and they said, "Oh no, that's a completely different appointment." Apparently they didn't care about my fuzzy teeth.

I ended getting an appointment with a new dentist to get a second opinion so I had to go back and get the x-rays. Of course, it figures that they would charge me $25 to get one 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper with 18 one inch x-rays on it. They also couldn't figure out why I would need a second opinion on cavities.

Today, I went in to the new dentist who looked at the x-rays and checked out my teeth and guess what? NO CAVITIES!!! I cannot even believe how shifty and dishonest that other dentist was. She wanted to drill away my precious enamel for no reason just so she could make some money. That can't be legal. I am just so glad I didn't get any work done from her and that I found this new dentist. He is sooo nice and I love the hygienist too. I finally found a dentist that I am happy with. Finally! There was no wait, I feel like I can trust them and there's even windows in this office--Bonus!

Now I've got a great family dentist, pediatric dentist, pediatrician and mechanic (if anyone needs one). I'm still on a hunt for a really good eye doctor. Anyone?