1 /5 Sharla Layman: Weve been patients of LBK for 3 years. Dr Fleming was a fantastic dentist which my children loved. Late fall of 2023, we started receiving care from two new dentists that we didnt know had taken over the office. The staff was amazing and the cleanings went well. We went back in a few weeks later for some fillings. My red headed child struggles with speaking up for them-self when they are uncomfortable. Towards the end of the appointment, I noticed my child was clenching and releasing their behind. I now know that was how my child was dealing with the pain. As we left the office my child broke down crying in the hallway and said everyone hurt them. I had to give pain medicine for 2 days to help with the pain. When the office called to check in on how my child was doing, I stated that we needed to do something different for the remaining cavities as my child didnt do well. They offered to give my child a sedative before hand to help with anxiety along with the laughing gas. No food was to be eaten after 8 pm the night before. We agreed to go this route since we trusted this would help with the pain. We coached our child on multiple occasions to speak up in the future appointment if they felt pain. We reassured them that the dentist didnt want to hurt them just as much as they didnt want to be hurt. We talked to the staff at the beginning of the appointment that they struggle with speaking up for themselves. Also had the dentist heard of red heads being harder to get numb? The dentist stated she is a red head magnet and has many red headed friends. (I wonder if she does their dental work too)? The top cavities were taken care of with no issues. Once they moved to the bottom teeth, my child jumped from pain. They gave her more numbing medicine and said that should take care of it. Waited a bit, started in again and my child raised their hand (which is what they had told them to do if there was pain). The lady dentist seemed frustrated, stopped, and said we needed to reschedule. Said that there is no way my child could still be feeling pain, and she couldnt give any more medicine. She stated that anxiety can make you think that you are feeling pain when you really arent. As we were checking out, my child went white and their knees gave out on them. We were taken back to the room again, to help them wake up some more. The dentist came in to check on my child and sarcastically said shed really be worrying about them. Then proceeded to tell me that anxiety can make a child pass out. It is now 1130 am. My child has an empty stomach, medicine on that empty stomach, and laughing gas in her system that she was try to wake up from. My child is not an anxious child. We received a letter of dismissal for our family a couple of weeks later, after I had canceled her next appointment. We had asked to give our child a break and to try to figure out what to do next. Initially, I was upset to be dismissed because I dont think it is too much to ask that our child doesnt feel pain, but I have decided to view it as to they are willing to admit they arent knowledgeable enough to treat red heads.
