Boiling Mad

So, Les just got back from the dentist. It had been probably about a year and a half since his last visit.  At his last visit the dentist said he had no cavities, and went on to say how great my husband takes care of his teeth since his last visit was two years before that!!

Anyway, fast forwarding to today, my husband went in for a checkup and cleaning and the NEW dentist on base took a look at his old xrays from the last visit.  According to the OLD xray he had THREE cavities!  What kind of incompetent dentist misses THREE CAVITIES and then goes on to gush about how well my husband takes care of his teeth!! Today's xrays show that in addition to the three cavities which need immediate treatment (scheduled for next week) one of those will likely now need a root canal and there are several other small cavities that need to be watched.

I am so mad at the incompetance that I could scream!  Not only will Les have to deal with getting the fillings, he will have to endure a root canal, which wouldn't be the case if the cavity had been noticed at his last visit.  Not fun. The worst part is that likely he has no recourse against the incompetant dentist.

And then, to add insult to injury, while in the dentist chair the doctor looks over his medical records.  Somehow, they came up with mine.  Uh, no, he is not Angela.  On top of that he got his arm stuck for blood not once, but twice.  Apparantly they lost a blood test that they did a few months ago.  Oops.  The first time the phlebotomist stuck him she had to dig around for a vein, bruised him up and pulled out the needle without getting enough blood.  She had to stick him again in the other arm.

So that is my rant about Military Medicine.  Dependants, like me, get decent care (most of the time).  We can sue if they screw up, but service members CAN'T. How messed up is that?  The only recourse is if the service member dies, then the family can sue for wrongful death.  It shouldn't have to go that far!  Ugh. Les' experience isn't unique, either. I've heard so many stories from other service members about similar screw-ups.  It just isn't right.  It shouldn't be acceptable to provide sub-standard care to anyone.