When the Dentist Becomes Your Super Needy Friend

Have you ever had a super needy friend?  You know, that friend who needs constant reassurance that you're still friends.  They have to confirm and reconfirm that you're going to hang out.  Even when you've confirmed 2 or 3 times, they're not completely sure.

For me that super needy friend is my dentist.

I'm going to tell you the tale of my most recent neediness from the dentist.  I should note that the dentist is always at least this needy, but this one just seems worse because it happened in such a short time period.

Remember a couple weeks ago when I had a root canal?  Well, I'm currently sporting a temporary crown on that tooth, and I get the permanent crown put on tomorrow.

The dentist has contacted me no less than 4 times to make sure I'll be there.  It started with this email:

Note that not only do they remind me that I have an appointment, but they ask me to confirm.  It's as if they are saying, "Remember we said we would hang out?  We're still gonna hang out, right?  Promise we're still friends, okay?"

Naturally, I clicked on the link and confirmed my appointment.  The next day I got a text from them.

Confirming once is just not sufficient for them.  "Yesterday you said we would hang out.  Do you still want to?  Do ya?  Do ya?  We're totally friends, right?"

Luckily, this time around 2 confirmations were sufficient.  In the past, I've had them call me to confirm.  I should note that I've never missed an appointment.  It's not like I'm some sort of flight risk.  I'm not sure why they need so much reassurance.  After the 2 confirmations it was time for the reminder email.

"I'm not gonna ask you again, because you told me twice.  But please remember to hang out with me, okay?"

Keep in mind, it's been like 2 weeks since I was actually at the dentist, and it's been 2 days since I confirmed my appointment.  But just to be really sure, they sent me another text.

"We're totally gonna see each other tomorrow.  I'm not insecure about it at all, why would you think that?  See you then!"

Look, I totally get that people need reminders.  Especially with a dentist where your appointments can be 6 months out.  I appreciate the reminder service that they give, and I'd rather have too many reminders than too few.  My real beef is with the multiple confirmations.  It makes me wonder if there is a computer that even records the confirmations.  Maybe they just figure I'll remember better if I confirm it.

Oh well.  I'm looking forward to my snazzy new tooth tomorrow.  While I'm there, I'll have to make sure to tell my dentist that he's really nice and I really like him and he's super cool.  Hopefully if he gains some confidence he won't be so insecure.  But don't tell him I made fun of him on my blog.  He would never stop texting me then.