Posts
I would be highly upset if one of my patients expressed an opinion that I did not care about my patients. I would never tell anyone that I was 'the best' clinical dentist in the world because I know that there are dentists who are better at restoring teeth than I am. No one can ever say "You Don't Care About Me." because that would be completely false.
I saw a young patient (30 years old) on Tuesday that was seeing me for a consultation about two recently placed front crowns and about a burning mouth ; she was regretting the day that she let her dentist cut down her front teeth for crowns. She showed me photos of herself when she was in her early 20s so that I could see her teeth before the crowns. To be honest, I was not even looking at her teeth but was looking at how much weight she had lost sometime over the last 7 or 8 years and how she had gone from a beautiful young woman to person with no fat whatsoever in her face (or elsewhere) to the point of being emaciated.
The longer I spoke with this patient, the more I understood that her displeasure with her teeth was only a small part of why she was unhappy. As you can imagine, it is very difficult to speak to a patient about matters of privacy especially when they do not involve teeth. That said, I have a professional obligation to help my patients because I care about them and I am concerned about their general well-being.
I am not a father but I can only imagine how this patient's father feels about how unhappy is daughter is and how concerned he probably is.
It was my impression that this patient was suffering from post- partum depression and I strongly suggested that she contact both her physician and her ob/gyn physician to manage the fungal infection and her lack of happiness.
I received the following email today:
Dr. Benjamin,
The burning from thrush is lessening slightly, not much, but the doctor told me it could take some time. I saw my primary care doctor yesterday and she prescribed a very low dose escitalopram 5 Mg for anxiety. I was lectured on my weight loss, it was a little more than I realized. I'm still having an ache in one tooth that travels upward and a lot of sinus pressure. Thank you for giving me the push to see the doctor and for your concern and follow up, I appreciate it.
Later in the day, I saw a long time patient (25 + years) who appeared to have lost a considerable amount of weight although she was always thin. I immediate addressed her loss of weight even before I sat down to look at her teeth. She told me that she had been seeing a doctor who told her that she had an absorption problem but with was little success with the treatment. I strongly suggested to my patient that she needed to go to The Cleveland Clinic, The Mayo Clinic or NY Presbyterian Hospital in NYC for an evaluation. Unexplained significant weight loss is an indication of a serious problem that must be explored and a diagnosis determined.
I was not sure how my patient would accept my suggestions but all she could say was, "Thank you so much for your recommendation. I will call them when I get home."
No one can ever say that I lack concern for my patients.
