If your doctor or dentist won’t get vaccinated, do you still visit them?
If your doctor or dentist won’t get vaccinated, do you still visit them?
Why I opted out of working with my dental hygienist
Writer’s note: This post was originally published on Medium’s “We Need to Talk” on April 30, 2021.
Writer’s update on Oct. 6, 2021: Before I could return to this same dental office (where I’ve been going for many years), they canceled their agreement with my insurance company afterward, kept every other insurer and now claim HIPAA will not allow them to confirm who is vaccinated — after confirming it the last time. I canceled my appointment. It’s simply not worth it. I’ll find a new dentist. My life matters far more than my dentist choice.
My dental hygienist and my dentist are two dope women. Getting dental insurance that doesn’t cover this office is a deal-breaker; I won’t even humor the idea of finding a new place to go to after several years of visiting them. Last year, when the location closed down for three months after coronavirus really started taking a toll, I shrugged my shoulders. Missing one dental cleaning since I was a small child wouldn’t hurt me. Although I’ve always been a stickler about those six-month visits, especially considering I have soft enamel and know how sensitive my teeth are to cavities, I fully understood why they shut down. It made sense.
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By the time my second visit came around, I just didn’t want to go. Dentists are the only place where it is mandatory that I take my face mask off, and the U.S. still hadn’t had a legitimate vaccine. I made an attempt to go one time, but I got a document to sign that was filled with risks of airborne illnesses after taking my mask off. By the time I reached the end of that list, I called in and canceled. Interestingly, the front-desk receptionist told me people were making appointments often, in spite of this warning document, as if COVID-19 was not even happening. They are braver than me, and that’s totally their business.
But this past week, after getting one of two vaccines, I was running out of excuses and finally drove there to get my teeth cleaned. One side of my mouth started feeling tender while brushing my teeth, but that seemed to be due to me trying to use a manual toothbrush after two years of using an electric toothbrush. (It is hard to revert back, and I’ll never try that again.) When I stepped inside, I saw plastic flaps around the receptionist’s desk and a sign near the front doorbell to call before entering. If the dentist was not ready for the patient, we were told to sit in our cars. I was pleased to see all of this. That meant they were taking coronavirus seriously.
When they buzzed me in and pointed to one of three rooms to enter, I walked on (still fully masked), grabbed disinfectant wipes and wiped down the chair from top to bottom. Maybe they did it already. Maybe they didn’t. I was taking no chances. I always have sunglasses in my purse and car, so I wasn’t worried about disinfecting the shades they usually put on my face to stop toothpaste from flying all over my face. While I sat on the edge of the chair, still uncomfortable with leaning back in it like a La-Z-Boy, a thought just kept nagging at me. No. There’s no way. Of course they are. Don’t ask that.