Religion & Politics--in the Dentist's Chair

My dentist would be APPALLED at that kind of behavior from one of his hygienists! Don't change the clinic, tell the dentist, s/he needs to know.

I knew what you were gonna say just by reading the title...and my answer is.....no way should she or anyone else in a professional position be at liberty to discuss anything along these lines with patients. My dentist even asked me one time if it was okay with me for him to discuss my husbands dental problems with me...he said...they really weren't suppossed to do it. So there are rules governing patient/professional.

If she bashed my religion or was "witnessing" to me, I would have to complain. I might complain anyway. That was BEYOND unprofessional and he's probably not the first to hear it. The dentist is going to lose patients if she keeps it up and he/she deserves to know why.

I would give them another chance, but I would never let her be my hygienist again.

How unprofessional and rude! I would definitely call and complain, speak to the dentist himself.

This happened to me a few years ago too. I was getting my cavity filled and the dentist railed on for about 5 minutes or so about how horrible my religion is and the people in it are all nuts and so on, and your husband is right, you can't say anything when someone is working on your mouth. She didn't know I was that religion... but I never went back.

I would definitely let the dentist know what happened. That is extremely unprofessional and typically against the rules in business settings such as that.

The dentist needs to know because this woman will hurt his business. A letter may be best, as it will be evidence if she continues and needs to be fired. She has every right to her beliefs, but NO right to espouse them at work and bash others for it. I left a hair salon because the person there went on a rant - and it was a kids haircut place!

Nope. Wrong place. The dentist or the office manager needs to be told.

If someone bashed my religion in the middle of a procedure - I might have grabbed their arm and told them to stop and complained right there. Yeah - might sound like Bill Cosby (sssmmmbbbbooooke ssssmmmbbbooke) that was NOT appropriate!!

I would change dentists but I would also tell them WHY I am leaving. And ensure it's dealt with

Please tell the dentist. He/she may be completely unaware that the hygienist is saying these things, and should have the opportunity to put a stop to it before he loses more business. Hopefully, he would even want to apologize to your husband directly for his staff's conduct.

Bahahahha for as many times as I had to deal with people telling me I was going to hell and the like when I worked with the public I find this amusing.

Seriously we had a seventh day adventist that greeted you with you are going to hell! Why thank you, what can I do for you.....

I have no idea how one's paperwork could give someone insight as to their religious beliefs. If your dentist does in fact ask for that information I suggest you no longer provide it. So far as the conversation either tell them at that time or let it go.

Don't let it go. Talk to the office manager. And change dentists.

Good grief, you can't even talk back when they are working on your mouth!

Dawn

Absolutely let the dentist know. Unless your husband brought up the religion thing, the hygienist never should have even brought the subject up, and as for dissing the religion, that is NEVER okay. I think the dentist would be horrified.

I would not change dentists - give them a chance to correct the problem. But in this case, two strikes and you're out.

Please Please Please tell the Dentist! He needs to know this goes on in his office by one of his staff! UGH, how horrible. I'm sorry your husband had to go through this. He has a lot of self control, I might have asked her to stop and insisted I get another appointment with no cancelation charge.

AFTER READING YOUR SO WHAT HAPPENED: I suggest you DON'T wait because if you do, they may not consider it too important.

You should call and let the dentist (not the office manager) know what happened. I don't know if the hygienist is young and immature or old and stupid...either way, when someone has their hands in your mouth, other then asking about your comfort level....they need to keep their mouth SHUT...this includes the dentist.

Hopefully and simple apology from they hygienist to your husband will resolve the problem since you have established a good relationship with your dental office.

Just tell the Dentist. He is the owner of his practice.

At a professional office, an employee should not jabber on and on about their personal views to that extent, like they would in their own living room.

The dental office is not a living room.
It is an office.

Before you go and quit going to your dentist, talk to the Dentist about this. First.

I would contact the dentist and ask to be scheduled with a new hygienist from then on. We asked for someone different when SD (who admittedly takes terrible care of her teeth) needed some TLC after a really thorough cleaning. The dentist always assigns her to himself now.

The dentist needs to know if there's an issue with his/her staff or office. I wouldn't go all guns a blazin' but I would say, "Dentist, we have used your services for 5 years but we've come across an issue. The other day, DH had x clean his teeth and was uncomfortable with some of the political views and comments she made on our religion. We like your practice so much that we refer others to it, but this really bothered us. Can we be assigned a different hygienist in the future and can you speak to the hygienist about not bringing up those topics when someone's in the chair? Thanks so much."

Give the dentist a chance to deal with this before you switch from otherwise good care. I'm sure the dentist would rather know than lose a patient without being given the opportunity to address it.

I'd bet the dentist/owner of this clinic would be very happy to hear this info.

Wow! That is incredibly unprofessional and rude. For one thing, using a patient's chart to bash his religion is just plain unethical. That information is intended to provide help for the patient if needed, not to provide the people in the clinic with ammo for attacking!

I would not enjoy it, but I would DEFINITELY call the dentist's office and speak to them about what happened, even if you do go elsewhere. And if you are leaving, make sure to point out that it is the direct result of her behavior. I would probably weigh their response in whether or not I switched offices, especially if you've had a long relationship with them.

You will be doing everyone -your husband, the dentist, the hygenist, yourself, her colleagues, her parents, etc. if you say something-she could lose one job after the other if someone doesn't give her some proper training now! How is she going to learn??

Politics and religion and work are a bad combo. Do let the dentist know! A letter would probably be most effective.

I would ask to speak to the dentist or head hygenist. I would complain about this behavior and request she not service your family again...in writing and verbally. If met with resistance, I would find another dentist.

Ironically, I was at my dentists earlier this week for my regular cleaning. Instead of music playing, they had Rush's show playing. Doesn't matter my stand on his topics, I definately don't think it was appropriate content for that setting. The hygenist didn't comment and she's not the only one in the office so I don't think it was her fault.

I'm with the call and complain camp. Your dentist may not even know that she behaves that way, and her behavior was very unprofessional.

I would call and complain about her unprofessional behavior. I certainly would not let this go. At the very least, I would be asking for a different hygienist.

Please write and complain. That's horridly unprofessional and I'm sure the dentist would like to know. Hygienists get paid very well and those jobs are competitive. I'm sure another qualified, professional hygienist would love to do that job and NOT make people uncomfortable.

Ok.....Next time--tell hubby to BITE HER. :) Lol. Ok, kidding aside---Call tomorrow and ask to speak with the dental coordinator. Make a formal complaint and ask that it be put in the hygenist's file. What she did was inappropriate and the fact that she looked at his file and bashed his religious views after it was even more so a slap in the face. I would have them switch hygenists for you and put a big note in your chart that you REFUSE to have X person. If you don't say anything, they won't know and they won't have the opportunity to fix the problem. GL

M

It sounds like this hygienist was not taught or has a misunderstanding of what it means to be professional. I would call and speak with the dentist about it, he/she will appreciate the call. If I really liked the dentist, I personally would not leave over this issue...just ask for a different hygienist in the future.

I had a serious complaint like this about a nurse at my doctor's office. I spoke with the doctor and she told me that she can't act on anything unless it is in writing. She asked me to please put in writing and send her exactly what I had told her so she could deal with it.

I'm sure your dentist, and any other dentists in the clinic, would want to know how their patients are being treated. If you just leave the clinic she is still going to be mistreating other patients. If you send them a written statment she may be stopped. You and your hubby can then decide (by the doctor's reaction) whether to leave the clinic.

My dental hygienist was Latina during the whole, Day without a Mexican ordeal back in 2007 or so. She said, you're a teacher, did your students go to class yesterday? I told her that I had no idea what she was referring to. She said, I kept my daughter home to protest.

Now she is just as American as the rest of us. AFTER she completed my xrays, I told her that I DEFINITELY had my idea about the whole thing but that I did not feel this office was the plce to air it.

From that I am sure she got which side of the border fence I stood!

I would call the dentist and let him/her know what the hygenist did.

There are already people apprehensive about going to the dentist and she doesn't need to make it worse.

She needs to keep her opinions to herself.

I'd for sure inform the dentist of her unprofessional behavior. Going back is up to your husband. Don't criticize him if he wants to cut all ties. Healthcare is a consumer product, you go where the best price/atmosphere is.