June 2008 | Vol. 84, No. 6
Dennis Engel, DDS
WDA Journal Editor

Did you ever look the other way as you passed a homeless person huddled in sheets of cardboard? Have you ever crossed the street to avoid an unstable person ranting about the earth ending? Do you try to ignore the person sitting on the street with a styrofoam cup asking for your change?

Of course you have, because ever since you were a child that is what you were told to do. We have all told our children to avoid unsavory characters. Keep walking and, by all means, don’t make eye contact.

If we walk past and avoid eye contact, does that mean these people don’t exist? I dare to say in our minds it does. You know the old saying, “out of sight out of mind”. But in reality, if we turn around, the people would still be there.

There are days I think this is our escape from accepting new patients in need. They come with a lot of baggage and if we (as the dentist) don’t answer the phone, it’s easy to look the other way and pretend the need doesn’t exist.

Unfortunately or fortunately – depending on your point of view – there are times in my office I have to answer the phone and I sometimes receive pleas for help. As I’m sure most of you would, I find it very difficult to say no to a person in need. After all, that’s the receptionist’s job, not mine.

Throughout my travels to component meetings with the Wisconsin Dental Association president, I’ve heard numerous times from office receptionists who answer five, 10, 20 calls a day from people in need who are told they can’t be seen. This has to be the hardest job in the world.

I would like to tell you about two encounters we had in our office last month and would be interested in your reactions to them. The first was from a prospective patient with Medicaid/BadgerCare coverage:

“Good morning. Drs Engel and Rennicke; how may I help you?”

“Are you accepting new patients?”

“Are you in any pain?”

“No; I just need a cleaning and checkup and know I have some cavities.”

“Are you covered by any dental insurance?”

“Yes; BadgerCare.”

“I’m sorry. We aren’t accepting new BadgerCare patients at this time.”

“When will you be accepting new patients?”

“We take a few new patients each month.”

“Great; then put me on the waiting list.”

“We don’t have a waiting list.”

“Then you are cheating the government!@#$%^&” (Slam the phone down.)

The second encounter involved a foster mother, birth mother and three-year-old child. On referral from the public health nurse, I do exams and prophys on foster children in our area.

This visit was unique because the birth mother was actually in attendance with the foster mother. The visit went smoothly despite the mother walking around with a can of Mountain Dew. I was wrapping up our appointment when the foster mother asked if it was alright to return for regular six-month checkups despite having BadgerCare. I told her that wouldn’t be a problem and they could continue to come even if they didn’t have BadgerCare. That’s when the natural mother spoke up and said, “Oh, no. When I get real insurance, we will be going back to my regular dentist.”

You can imagine my reaction; I can only hope the Mountain Dews works quickly and I stop cheating the government.

Now, of course I’m only kidding, but I really want to know when my time and overhead became less important then my colleague’s down the block?

Who are we really turning our backs on – the patients or our colleagues willing to bear the burden despite the hurdles? Don’t disillusion yourself when you look back. Our dilemma will still be there.