I visited Dr. Rowland on a recommendation.
The hygienist who took my X-Rays was a bit silly (her bedside chatter was just plain weird) and she confided in me, while taking her time with one side of my face, that that wasn't her "good side" and that X-Rays are "harder than they look." I appreciated her candor.
The hygienist who cleaned my teeth was friendly and careful, but frequently seemed distracted by the bird feeder out the window, to the point of looking away while cleaning near my gums (painful!) and wasting my time when I was in a hurry to get back to work.
Dr. Rowland herself was also friendly and had a great bedside manner, but after glancing at my X-Rays, she confirmed that I had a cavity in one of my molars. Given the state of my oral hygiene (very good) and that I'd had no problems when I was at the dentist six months ago (a different dentist, of course), I decided to seek a second opinion.
The other dentist I went to said he saw no such cavities on the X-Ray (the dark crescent that I pointed out to him, the crescent that I remembered Dr. Rowland pointing out to me, unless I misunderstood her, he dismissed as "nothing but an artifact"). When he inspected my molars, he said the groove was a bit deep in my tooth, but he certainly wouldn't do anything about it, certainly, he said, he wouldn't drill it and put in a filling (the fix Dr. Rowland insisted upon).
Needless to say, I called back Dr. Rowland about this. The receptionist became a bit short with me when she decided I was impugning Dr. Rowland's diagnosis; I was apologetic and said that obviously I didn't know anything about dentistry, but what was I to do? I asked if she could have Dr. Rowland call me back and give me her advice, which she promised she would do, but I never received the call.
I'm not sure I'd venture to say this is anywhere near malpractice; I hope it is merely a bit of professional disagreement. However, having only been to Dr. Rowland once, and having previously never had any cavities, having had even Dr. Rowland's hygienist say everything "looks fine," I'm strongly disinclined to trust her diagnosis on this, and, as a result, far less than confident in her ability as a whole.
Your mileage, of course, may vary; the individuals who referred me to Dr. Rowland still swear by her.
6 Months Later: I just went in to my new dentist, the one who didn't see any cavities. He still doesn't see any cavities.
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