Dutch Dental Care

Sorry it's taken a while to post this blog. I had been having some computer troubles at work for the last few weeks and they finally fixed it by rebuilding my user profile. Of course, that reset all my preferences and deleted the password for getting on our wireless network at home. Naturally I noticed this detail several hours after Dennis left for a four day company ski trip. He's back now and he gave me the password so I'm back on-line.

Here's the new post:

We’ve heard all the jokes about British people with bad teeth. When I got to the Netherlands I realized the jokes are true for Dutch people as well. Apparently the teeth-whitening trend has not made it across the Atlantic. What really surprised me was that even TV and news people had yellow teeth. Well, now I know why.

Yes, I went to the dentist on Monday. It had been nearly a year since my last cleaning and I don’t want to let my teeth get all European. People complain here about how difficult it is to find a dentist that takes new patients. I guess I was lucky that the first one I called had room for me. Better yet, the office is right on the corner of my street, only half a block away.

My appointment was at 8:30. I was on-time, which is easy when you only have to walk half a block. I sat in the waiting room for about a minute. They called me in and asked the normal questions about how often I brush and floss. I got some x-rays done. She blew air on my teeth and poked around a little bit. Then she said, “OK, now we’ll do some cleaning.” She scraped one tooth and polished about four more. Then she used an evil high-powered water pick that sounded like a drill around several other teeth. Even though I flossed just 10 minutes before my appointment, she flossed my teeth again. “Here’s the water. You can rinse and make your next appointment at the front desk. See you in six months”
I checked my watch – 8:45. I touched my teeth with my tongue and felt the plaque still stuck way in back where the toothbrush can’t reach. I asked around at work to find out if this kind of dental care is normal. Everyone agreed that 15 minutes is the standard appointment length. If the dentist thinks you need extra cleaning, they set up a separate appointment for you. I think I’ll just wait until I’m back in the US again and have my teeth cleaned properly.