That’s right–192 East Chestnut Ave. in Asheville, is colorful and attractive. It’s the office of Dr. John Hoskins, my new dentist. I tried 4 before I chose him…He’s young enough, so I know he’ll be with me for a while (I won’t need to break in another,) and he’s old enough to know he doesn’t know everything.
His office is attractive and well kept, and I like that…a lot. It makes me believe he and his staff are detail-oriented, conscientious, and caring about all aspects. In my dentists and doctors, I deem those qualities important.
But I didn’t get to him easily. Just like the famous “Three Bears” nursery rhyme, I tried out a number of dentists (4 in all), before him, looking for the perfect fit.
Here’s why choosing was a problem.
I’ve been a half–time-resident of Asheville, NC, for 5 years now (here 5 months of the year, Rhode Island for the other 7), and one of the biggest hurdles for me has been establishing my network of quality health care providers in this region.
If you read my former Biddy Bytes post on dentists, you probably recognize that identifying a dentist would be the last thing I’d do. After all, my first interaction, as a child, was when I saw my family dentist come at me, wielding a scalpel, bent on cutting my gums. My father proceeded to hold me down, forcibly, in the dentist’s chair, bear-hugging me from behind, covering my eyes, too, believing I’d cooperate more, if I couldn’t see.
I taught him otherwise, but the experience affected me for a lifetime.
But my resistance changed one Friday night, this past winter, when I bit down on a cherry and hit the pit, fracturing a tooth. It was 8:45 PM (that’s important, as you’ll see.)
I’d discover that I couldn’t get a dentist to respond to my call for emergency help. Most of the automated messages said: “We’re open on Monday through Wednesday, closed Thursday, open Friday til 12:00 noon.” “If you’re a patient of Dr. So-and-so and can’t wait for office hours to resume, leave a message.”
I could find no dentists who worked on weekends.
I was stuck. I wasn’t anyone’s established patient. I left messages for 8 dentists and only one called me back. I made a mental note that in my next life, I want to come back as a dentist and then hunkered down, waiting for the pain to start.
The following Monday I went to one who fit me in, on emergency basis. He fixed the tooth ’temporarily.’ Oh, he was good but still not what I want in my dentist, for I need to feel a connection to a professional who wields such power over me.
So, I did what I’ve done on other occasions. I asked a top doc for his recommendation–my oncologist, Dr. Michael Messino, at Cancer Care, Asheville, NC. He’d already steered me to my internist, Dr. James Hoer, and I was most satisfied. Now, I asked him for the name of a good dentist.
He referred me to Dr. John Hoskins, at 192 East Chestnut, off Merrimon Ave., Asheville.
I arrived to a professional building painted cheerfully (these things matter to me,) a well-appointed office, replete with photographs on the wall of the Grand Titans mountain range in Wyoming (which I’d learn my biker/hiker dentist once climbed), and a crack staff led by Melene, office receptionist. This woman took enough interest in me to come from behind the desk to ask me how I got into blogging (I’d given her my card; I shamelessly do that with all, for I never know if they’ll become a subject on my blog.)
When the dentist finished with the patient before me, he came out to the reception area, too, and we all chatted (OK, they were kidding me about my ’Boston accent.’)
He’s friendly and respectful, answering my questions about bone loss and how it affects my teeth.
In short, I felt very comfortable….an odd reaction, since going to the dentist is one of my biggest phobias.
So, here’s a nugget to consider for all those who haven’t yet identified your doctors: If you’re a newcomer wondering to whom you should go, identify one terrific doctor first, (ask friends/knowledgeable types/ read patient reviews, then check how you feel about him/her, personally). Then ask who they recommend.
Why? Good people always know the other good people.
As an interesting aside, when my appointment was done, office receptionist Melene recommended Blue Water Seafood for lunch, a little place right down the street, next to City Bakery and the Chop Shop, for terrific chowder (or ‘chowdah,’ as I say it) and an amazing grilled salmon BLT sandwich.
I told you: “The good people always know the other good people.”
(Here are some pictures of Blue Water Seafood where fish is brought in, ‘whole style’ from the coast, and a funky skeletal logo is painted on its glass front window.)
Now, tell us how you find your good doctors….
This is a very relevant topic for me because we have recently moved and I don’t have a dentist. So far I’ve found an internist, a cardiologist and an ENT doctor, all of whom I like but I don’t know any of them except for seeing each of them one time. So, wish me luck in my search and thanks for another insightful, helpful, and as always, humorous article!
Hi Molly–You are doing waaayyy better than I, if you’ve just moved and have already identified all of those. I asked my oncologist the name of the dentist and he’s the one who provided. Like the spokes on a bicycle, all my top docs emanate from him (he’s probably rolling his eyes right now, saying “Pulease don’t tell any more people my name; they’ll all be hitting me up.)
What I can’t say enough is: Identify the dentist before you NEED one, on emergency basis. That’s what tripped me up, and in talking to many people, they all say the same thing: They haven’t gotten one yet. They’ll be sorry when they bite down on a cherry pit on a Friday night at 8:45….I do hope they heed my warning.
Dentistry is becoming more lucrative than brain surgery! My dentist, Dr Bob Smith works from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, Friday the office is closed. It takes 4-5 months to get an appointment with the dental hygienist. I needed an implant and he referred me to Dr Howell, a periodontist who is in that wonderful renovated office w/your dentist. Both of them are dentists I would refer to others. They are a big improvement over my first dentist, who scammed hundreds of people by making them pay up front for services never received. She left her office one day and never returned. She had a beautiful office but an ugly drug addiction.
This method also worked for my lawyer, who referred me to my CPA and CFP.
Woah, Audrey…I didn’t realize you and I had the same dentist who had the gorgeous, beautifully-appointed office with floating chairs (for the patient as he/she endured dental work), wall screens that acted as dividers (instead of walls), piped in music, sculptures, paintings. And who was paying for all this elaborate ‘stuff’? We patients. I went to her for similar situation first year I was in Asheville when a tooth chipped (let that be a lesson–all–identify someone before you need one). I asked the price for a crown and it was TWICE what it would cost at another. I never did have work done at her office, but she did have an impressive place. The following summer I got a letter apprising me to come to a certain location to get my records, she had a terrible ‘illness.’ Only later did I find out the real story. Yes, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Another lesson? Don’t be conned by appearances…
I’ve been lucky with my choice of doctors, dentist et al. I use the same methods you use.
I must say that I’m very impressed with what you’ve done with your writings and biddybyte.
Just as an aside, I often think that I wonder why we never kept in touch after that lovely lunch at Gregg’s a couple of years ago.
Keep up the good work. Best regards, Lynne Ogden
Hi Lynne–So-o glad to see you on my blog. But as to ‘why we never kept in touch after lovely lunch at Gregg’s…?” I do keep in touch, with you, three times a week, in this blog, reaching out to my friends and readers across the blososphere. There are the physical restraints to prevent otherwise. When I started the blog, husband Paul was just coming off that catastrophic accident which saw him break neck, ‘die’ at hospital when he suffered Code Blue, hospital brought him back, but it’s been a long road to recovery (he’s 85% back). Then, too, we’re in Asheville for 5 mos. of the year, coming home in summer and staying thru first week of January. But I promise, dear friend…I will make a point for us to get together, so we can laugh and hoot and enjoy carrot cake at Gregg’s…Now, please, comment again, so I can see Lynne Ogden on my site. I love hearing from you. My best to Mickey! Love you…