I first noticed this with my dentist when I would come in the office and her first words were something to the effect of “how are you feeling?” If she said that as part of the exam, the other words I heard were “how are you feeling?” And if she used the word “how are you feeling?” then I’d be expected to reply in kind, “good” or “OK”.
I think one of the things that really makes the dentist’s office in Stroger seem so different from the other services here are her language. In every other dental office your speech is so natural that I don’t think you could say anything in the way she does. Stroger’s just not natural, and that’s one of the reasons I’m loving it here.
Stroger Hospital is a beautiful, bright place, but it has its own rules. To help you get through the exam, you don’t just turn to a stranger who’s a dentist. You don’t use the word “okay” or “good” when you say your thanks. You say it loudly and clearly and confidently. You don’t expect gratitude from the person who’s asking you to go into the exam room.
Strogers is a dentist who is very nice but not necessarily a great dentist. When she gets your dental check up, she takes the time to thoroughly inspect your teeth. She’s not going to let you eat food when you are feeling sick, and she won’t let you use a bathroom, because she’s a dentist and you should go to the bathroom.
So basically what you are saying is that when your teeth are being inspected, the person you are supposed to be thanking is not a dentist. And I don’t know how that works. The fact is that the word “dentist” also has a very specific meaning. It is the profession of a dentist that is a specialist in the care of the teeth and gums. As such, we are likely to be treated as one.
While it’s true that a dentist is a specialist in the care of the teeth and gums, that does not mean that you should be thanking a dentist without actually being a dentist. In this case, you are not a dentist, so you do not need to be thanking a dentist. As such, you should thank a person who treats you like a patient and not a dentist.
Some people seem to think that the phrase “treat me like a patient” is only referring to the actual treatment that they provide. In fact, this is exactly the opposite of what it means. Treating someone like a patient is quite different than treating them like a dentist. Treating someone like a patient means that you provide the care that they need. Treating someone like a dentist means that you provide the care that they need and expect to get.
Like I said, treat me like a patient. If you think of a dentist as a caretaker, a dentist is the person who goes to patients and does everything to make them comfortable so they don’t need anything else. A patient is the person who asks for something. A patient needs dental care as an equal. Just because you need something doesn’t mean you have to be the caretaker.
Stroger Hospital is a dental clinic that offers dental care for free. One of the patients at Stroger was an ex-convict who took advantage of the clinic to get a couple of good teeth removed, but he had trouble controlling his desire to get a full mouth of dental work done. So, instead of a good job, he was treated like a bad one by Stroger Hospital.
Stroger Hospital offers free dental care to a select group of people. It is not a free clinic. To become a patient, you have to have a certain number of free visits and pay a fee to be treated. The clinic also serves as an emergency dental facility, which means it gives free care to people who need it.