Shortly after Buffy’s blog was launched in Fall 2014, and on the coattails of Krazy K, who you met in the post that started it all — “So We Decided to Sell Our House” — Dr. Doolittle took center stage. This entry, originally posted on Buffy’s blog.com site, reminds us to weigh our options before we do “it.” Oh, and guts are good, so go with it. 

 

After a hefty “signing” fee and 36 monthly hits on the plastic, a straw just broke the camel’s back, and we just waved bye-bye to Dr. Doolittle.

Dr. D is an orthodontist. Hopefully you or your peeps don’t have one and won’t ever need one because it’s a long and winding road. But if you’ve traveled down Braces Boulevard, I’ll say a prayer for ya because I feel your pain.

The I-wish-I-was-a-rock-star-and-not-an-orthodontist orthodontist recommended a Radical Procedure — I have assigned upper casing to the r and p in radical and procedure because that’s how radical the procedures was — that would have resulted in life-long consequences. By life-long, I mean forever, and by consequences, I mean horrific. “It” involved a lot that I won’t go into, but “it” seemed farfetched, and second opinions from an oral surgeon and another orthodontist confirmed what my gut had already shouted from the rooftops: Do. Not. Do. “It.”

Which brings me to this: Go with your gut, folks. Whatever size your gut is, go with it. I’ve long thought Doolittle was doing little and that his office is a marketing circus with faaaaaaaaaar too many patients. I’ve been in smaller crowds inching (err, elbowing) my way up the steps of the Cotton Bowl during Texas/OU weekend. But I’ll give DD this: A lot of mouths with a lot braces with a lot of “treatment plans” creates a pretty cushy cash flow. Pitch in fresh-baked cookies as a consolation prize at check out — does that seem counter to promoting dental hygiene?

In the 36 months we’ve been hanging out at the braces factory, I don’t think my son saw the same “technician” twice. Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t; it was hard to see their faces through the elaborate body protection that would provide optimum safety if the office were to come under nuclear attack. Pack a snack and grab a pillow because I might just jump on another soapbox about inconsistent care by the revolving door of staff that gave conflicting information time and again. And again. And again and again and again. And those ridiculous Doolittle Dollars. Oh wow. I need another soapbox.

And if that’s not enough to make Buffy bitchy, then I don’t know what is.

Only Buffy isn’t bitchy, because we dodged a bullet… or in this case, a rockin’ smile. And if you caught that pun, you know Dr. Doolittle, too.