visits to the dentist aren’t that hard

[Redcarbluevan]

On every thread about being a SAHM or splitting household tasks one things pop up as being very difficult and time consuming: visits to the dentist.

We visit the dentist twice a year. The appointments are after school and the kids are all seen at the same time. Before we leave we’ll book the next appointment. All in all it takes 60 mins a year. Granted if your child needs braces it will take longer… why do people act like it’s just a big job, and note it as a key life admin task?

Because some people work 50+ hours a week and it's hard to find a slot after school

So you have a dentist nearby who is never late an your kids never actually need a treatment. That’s not the case for everyone.

Because you have to spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to actually get an appointment? 'Sorry no NHS appointments available, ring back next month' repeat.

Our dentist is an hour’s drive. Picking DCs up from school, driving there, seeing the dentist and driving home is a whole morning or afternoon every six months. It’s a pain, especially if you have to take them back for treatment.

Yeah literally never noticed “trips to the dentist being hard” is a thing on MN.
Getting a dentist in the first place - now that’s hard.

I don't get it either. I was a single parent who worked full time. Of all the things that were difficult, taking my son to the dentist really wasn't one of them. Even when he needed treatment and braces, we just managed to work around it all.

Our dentist makes the appointments 6 months in advance but won't give you a card/letter/email with the date on. Then they phone to change it at least three times and phone you the day before to confirm attendance- if you don't answer or call back within 20 minutes your appointment will be cancelled.

Then the waiting room is a bare room with the receptionists on the phone all the time and I have Noisy small children and snacks are not an option because we have just cleaned our teeth and the dentist is always running super late . . .

I therefore do find the dentist quite stressful!

On every thread about being a SAHM or splitting household tasks one things pop up as being very difficult and time consuming: visits to the dentist.

I’ve been on MN for 18 years and have never seen this come up.

They are easy for you. Great, get a medal.

Book some AL?

When OP’s include “paying the bills”
on the “mental burden” list I always smile

There is a thread about a husband asking his wife to return to work and dentist appt are mentioned by a dozen different posters

Me too! All my bills come out automatically by DD every month. Other than looking at my online banking if I so choose that’s the extent of ‘paying my bills’. Except car insurance ONCE per year! Oh the hardship!

OP, I don’t find the dentist difficult either. But then we’ve been with the same dentist for 25 years and we book the next appointment while we’re at the current one. But dentists in the UK at the minute are a shitshow so I imagine for those without dentists it’s a bit different if they’re hunting round for one!

Because trying to get an appointment for four children is a nightmare. Not just getting the appointment, but informing the schools and the battle that ensues, the logistics of picking up three children from three different schools

Yes it’s a little thing but I guess it’s just a universal example of one of those little things that all add up towards the ‘big thing’ that is life admin. Dentist appointments aren’t usually available outside mon-fri 9-5 so would impact on most parents’ working hours.
Also believe me having multiple children with braces at the same time can mean that you feel as if you spend half your life at the orthodontist.

Yeah because it’s not like you’ll need every bit of that annual leave for the 13 weeks of school holidays.

Isn’t it used as more of a blanket task, so dentist, doctor, optician, any hospital appointments as needed, all those sorts of appointments. Remembering when they’re due, booking, attending, sorting any follow ups. Not exactly back breaking work but not nothing. That’s how I always took it anyway… if it’s literally just dentist appointments then yes it seems silly to include as one of the main tasks!

So book a dental appt during those 13 weeks?

Well good for you if you can get it to all line up when there’s availability of appointments during the school holidays and you’re not actually away on holiday. Almost impossible.

Even if it is a gargantuan task for some, it’s twice a year. It’s hardly a reason to give up work which is what the OP was alluding to.

Yeah, it’s not like those 13 weeks have extra demand or anything 🙄

Last time my DC’s dental checkup was due in July, I was told that there weren’t any appointments available until the middle of September. And this was when I was making the appointment in January, immediately after their previous dentist appointment.

Although we’re lucky to have a dentist near our home, which makes it easier for us. I know plenty of people who are struggling to find any dentist, or who’ve had to go to a dentist quite some way from their homes.

I have 3 children with additional needs. I tried taking all three at once, it was another level of hell that was unfair to them/the dentist/everyone else in the surgery. So now have to book three separate appointments during school hours to take them individually. That’s 6 times a year (not including my own dental needs of course). I can promise you, it’s not done for the fun of it, or as an ‘excuse’ not to work.

Our dentist don't let you rebook at the end of the appointment, you need to phone to book when next due in, but they often don't have after school appointments for weeks and if you don't go back in time, you get kicked of the list and then have to spend hours ringing round every dentist in the area to find one that is accepting new patients.

My teens had braces. That was four years of an appointment every six weeks.

I am sure fear of the dentist plays a part with some people. Also if you have to book weeks or months in advance, trying to remember on the spot that you do not have something else on must be difficult for some people.