We set a record here on Thursday:

[PCIntern]

We saw more patients in one day than we have ever seen in one day in 32 years of practice. Many of them were emergencies, many of those were conditions which had been present for days or weeks, but because it is a 3-4 day weekend, panic ensued. This happens every year with Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving (but not Christmas or New Year's for interesting reasons). I saw no fewer than 8 folk who told me up front that they could not pay for their work immediately, since they'd been laid low by the economy and was it all right. Of course I saw them and told them to have a good, pain-free weekend, and good luck to them in their searches for jobs. I think many people do not realize what has happened here with respect to employment or lack thereof and one of the things which suffers greatly is medical/dental care. I never ever turn away an existing patient who has financial problems, and I often see new people and treat them knowing in my heart that their promise to pay is just a result of desperation. It's OK...it goes with the territory and if everyone did a little bit for honest people who are trying, the misery index would be just a little smaller.

I wish everyone here a Happy, Healthy, and SAFE Holiday...

PC

[RevStPatrick]

1. You're a good man, PC.

True to that Hippocratic Oath.
Have a great weekend...

[The Wielding Truth]

2. Pain free weekend. Are you a dentist or chiropractor?

[PCIntern]

3. DMD

[The Wielding Truth]

5. Dentist. Cool. So glad you are with us at DU. Fine job.

[madrchsod]

4. there was a shooting this week where i live...

a 75 yr old man shot his senile wife then went out into the yard and shot himself. the coroner was their nephew. nothing more has been written about this in the paper.worse is the coroner has to rule on the death. from the part of town and their home i`m assuming he reached the point of no return.

i hope to god this isn`t going to be the future of america.

[murielm99]

7. This is the first I have heard about these deaths.

Odd, since I live so close to you. The only thing I could find was on a Quad Cities TV station.

[ejpoeta]

6. my husband, he would go through this cycle. his teeth were so bad.... but he had no insurance.

and we were broke. he would have a tooth that would start to hurt. he would put hurricane gel on it. he would wait until it got to the point he couldn't take it anymore and then he would end up in the ER. they couldn't help him. they would give him a tylenol with codeine or something. He would go to a dentist and get it pulled. Then after about a year it would start again with the next tooth. and the next tooth. Last year he took a loan out of his 401k and had all his bottom teeth removed and got dentures. still hasn't taken care of the top ones. someday i guess.

but thank you for what you do. You don't have to. People like you do a lot to keep my faith in people.

[nenagh]

8. You are a very good person to do this PCIntern..

Suffering with dental pain, dreadful.... how good you are to help these patients....

:toast:

[Snoutport]

9. Bravo to you!!!

You are a hero :0)

[PCIntern]

10. It's only human to take care of someone in pain...

it's quite sad out there...frightening at times when I walk down the street and see people holding their faces; they don't even realize they're doing it.

[Snoutport]

11. it is also human to look the other way.

you are a hero for choosing the harder path. :0)

stop arguing with me. I'm right.