As most if not all of you know I’ve been living with metal in my mouth for over a year. On the 20th I had the metal taken out. Today I went to get my retainer fitted. After the fitting I asked for my photos so that I could put the before and after up on this blog. At first they offered a black and white print-out. I said I wanted the digital photos – they said they didn’t know how to do that. So, I went over to their computer – took a look at the “Cliniview” software that I’d never seen before – and in ten seconds I figured out how to export my photos and x-rays as jpeg image files. The computer we were using was not online however and I had no other way to take the images with me. The assistant, Ruth, told me to go up front to the admin desk and there was a computer connected to the internet there. After explaining to the woman at the front desk several times what I wanted and her not understanding she asked who I spoke with. We then walked to the other side of the building to talk to Ruth. At that point the front desk woman gave up and told me “it’ll be $20. If you want anything at all it’ll be $20” just to get me to go away. Never mind the fact that the orthodontist and Ruth said I could have them…. None of this was particularly surprising as I remember back to the beginning of my orthodontic adventure. I decided to get a 5% discount by paying for everything at once. Most of the patients are quite obviously lower income – and so the staff had never been confronted with someone taking up that offer instead of monthly payments. First they tried to tell me my down payment (which I’d given previously) wasn’t going to be taken out of the overall amount. Once we got that settled they couldn’t figure out how to take 5% out of the resulting number. Keep in mind these are women sitting in front of PCs with Windows XP installed…a calculator at their fingertips. They had to run to the other office and ask someone how to figure out my bill. So it ended as it began I suppose – with frustration at the hands of incompetent desk staff.
So – in order to show you before and after photos I’ve scanned the black and white photo they gave me of before – and taken my own after.
Before (this is me actually biting down…notice how only a few teeth touch)
After (having the lower teeth tip in was an alternative to a $30,000 surgery to remove part of my jaw)
