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| - The office is clean and the dentists are nice, but the place has such a high-pressure sales vibe that I just didn't feel comfortable or safe going back after trying to make do there for a few years.
Michael, the office manager is an unusual character. After my first appointment, and subsequent ones, instead of simply paying by bill at the counter and scheduling a next appointment like at a normal office, I was made to go sit in Michael's office to be sold all sorts of add-one while four pictures of my post-dental cleaning mouth was displayed on his computer monitor. It's a device to shame and discomfort people: no one's mouth looks healthy after being scratched and proved for an hour--I've never had a cavity and one of my grandmothers was a dentist, for example, and yet I was made to feel like I needed at least 3 visits a year and all these extra services for my allegedly poor dental hygiene.
Michael also likes to make passive aggressive comments about clients' careers and interests after proving for them. For example, on my first visit, he asked what I did for a living. When I told him about my career, at the time, as a copywriter and editor for businesses' and individuals' online media, he said Back, "oh, you're a blogger!" And then, he ran around the office to at least two others saying "Halina here is a blogger! Isn't that neat?" I was not a "blogger."
I was sold a lot of services that I did not need and was told by Muneeza, my hygienist, that I had to get them for the sake of my health. For example, while I was laying back on the dental chair, Muneeza insisted that, because I have asthma, I simply have to get this expensive cavity protectant, above and beyond the fluoride treatment I was already purchasing every time. I questioned why, since I am in my 30s and have never had a cavity. She continued pressuring me with scary what-ifs and insistence that if I didn't do it, I would surely end up with a disastrous mouth on my hands. Still supine, uncomfortable and vulnerable, I let her do the expensive procedure that we hadn't scheduled because I was exhausted from her high-pressure sales and just wanted to be done.
Muneeza consistently pushes high-cost products and acts like the need for them is dire. She also won't shut up about her children's achievements or her wealthy extended family during cleanings. I would often leave utterly exhausted from hearing the same story over and over again, with the only change being that the kids were a few months older.
Getting a dental cleaning and related services should not feel like stepping out into the car dealership showroom floor, and then into the negotiating room. However, at this office, it surely does.
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