I really hate going to the dentist.
Even before you get there, it’s not a fun experience. Then once you get there, there’s the dentist, lovely as they often are, poking around with their instruments. The medicine makes you nauseous sometimes, the chairs in the waiting room are ugly, and there aren’t any good magazines to read.
Worse still, there’s the lingering knowledge that despite the wonders of medical science, there’s still a tiny chance something could go wrong. That feeling isn’t helped by news organizations squawking for days any time one careless or corrupt dentist messes up and someone gets hurt. Pretty much any time I go, I just want to get my dental work done and get out.
But you know, all of that would be bearable if it weren’t for the people who keep shouting at me.
You’re minding your own business, going in to get a common medical procedure – one people have received forever, one that’s safer than tonsil removal – and these guys outside keep waving signs and shouting that I’m making a mistake.
I mean, consider, for a moment, if, like dentistry, other medical procedures were hives of protest.
Imagine if they got signs saying “Jesus Loves Your Teeth” and waved them at patients going in for other medical procedures.
Imagine if other medical procedures had protestors who printed up fake pictures of wax teeth, claiming they were mangled by dental work.
Imagine if they lied to you about the “dangers” of other medical procedures the way they do about dentistry.
Imagine if most people actually had no idea about what goes on in other medical procedures, the way they don’t in dentistry.
I mean, come on. There would be outrage if other health care fields were treated like dentistry.
What do they think? That for those who got their teeth knocked out they’ll just suck it up? Probably not. Prior to the legalization of dentistry, (Seriously, what kind of phrase is that? A perfectly safe medical procedure needs legalization?) people died trying to rip their own teeth out.
And the things they say to me. “Well, you shouldn’t have eaten candy,” is a pretty common one. This kind of thing shows a remarkable lack of empathy, given the many different reasons people go to the dentist, most of which these people have never even considered. Some dental patients have been through hellish experiences, trauma, accidents that got their teeth knocked out, even assault.
The worst part, though, is that the people who shout things at dental patients are often the same ones working hard to make sure that people don’t have access to the things that lessen the need for dentists. Can you believe that a lot of them call for the repeal of programs that provide free plaque control?
I mean, come on. More than half of these people don’t even have teeth.
The one saving grace is the buffer zone. It’s this little strip of space that dentist office protestors can’t cross because if they could, they’d probably force more false information down the throats of dental patients. Recently, the Supreme Court reopened the issue of buffer zones. Can you imagine if the Supreme Court of the United States tacitly endorsed the protest and heckling of other very common, incredibly safe medical procedures?
Look, I understand that these people think they’re helping. I just wish they’d consider for a moment that maybe going to the dentist is the best choice for me. And even if they don’t, even if they want to continue being worthless scum without a shred of compassion, empathy or understanding for any person or situation outside of their incredibly privileged sphere, I still think they shouldn’t protest.
Because common medical procedures – medical procedures that save the lives of countless people every year, that are perfectly safe when well-regulated and legally available – probably shouldn’t be a matter of public interest.
Cody Frederick is a junior majoring in history.
