I read with piqued interest the letter from Mr. Langley re:toothache at Jefferson. I too had a very negativeexperience there. I had an endoscopy at the hospital,whereby they look into your throat /stomach with a longtube with a camera at the end. They put a small tubebetween the mouth and the teeth to feed it through.

Unfortunately they did not give me enough sedation and as I awoke I was thrashing around and bit down on itwhich caused my tooth to loosen! I told the nurse as I was coming out of it, I felt as if I’d been punched in the mouth. The doctor was profusely apologetic and genuinely concerned, calling me personally and immediately got me into the clinic. Upon seeing the dentist, she told me that I had bone decay and made as if it was my fault. To be sure I’ve had a lifelong battle with gum disease which there’s no cure for, she was glib, arrogant, and condescending as if it was somehow my fault. Even stating that she had seen this happen before to which I was incredulous! If you’ve seen it before, you should/could have done something to prevent it from happening again! I didn’t have any loose teeth before the procedure?! But I’m left to deal with it, callous is the word that comes to mind. Or Dentistry by the numbers, cash over quality. I have to agree with Mr. Langley, if you can go somewhere else, I would.

Dusty Massie

Port Townsend