The Trauma of the Sick Care System

Perhaps I am alone in this, but I find going to the dentist to be a somewhat of a traumatic experience. I think anything involving one's mouth is intimate, so having people working in your mouth with sharp objects and possibly hurting you can be an awful experience. Everything about me is sensitive. People who overstep the boundaries and touch my hair learn that I feel it even though my hair is very long. Anyway, my sensitivity extends to my teeth, my gums, and everything else, and I can feel when an object is touching/scraping my gums instead of my teeth. I am also sensitive enough to know that a person's emotions affect their physical actions, and believe me - you don't an upset person working in your mouth. Instead complaining when I feel something wrong (especially when I can't talk), I speak with my body language - the "ouch, you just hurt me" jerk, or the "I'm trying to move away from you because this hurts" move. I find that dentists want to talk about upsetting subjects when you are most vulnerable. Once, back in the day, I had a dentist lecture me about my skin while he worked in my mouth and he was giving me bad advice! I was younger and self-conscious about my appearance, so his comments were not welcome.

Most experiences with doctors and dentists have been awful. Quite frankly, I often feel violated. I have been treated so badly at times that I've ended up in tears. Gynecologists are often not very sensitive either. I don't think health care is about health at all. It's more like sick care pharmacies. You are given drugs to mask symptoms of sickness, and you have to keep coming back. Imagine sitting in a dental office chair thinking you will never come back again. Imagine questioning going to dentists at all. That was what I did less than an hour ago, but I was in a bad position at the time. I was also remembering my last experience with a so-called hygienist (yeah, right!) who showed me a bloody scene in my mouth that I can't even bear to discuss here.

When I looked around the dental office, I noticed all of the brochures and brand named items - from the Listerine to the Sonicare, I noticed how everything was something that had been marketed and sold. I felt like none of it had to do with health. It was just a business. Whew! I know I'm ranting, but I'm still recovering from my visit. All I know is that I am looking forward to seeing a change in the way we think of ourselves, our bodies and our health.