Dear Dr. Orthodontist:

I'm tired of dealing with your office. I want my braces off like yesterday. We're going on three years now. The fact that your office hours are now so limited--meaning that I have to take off work to stick with the treatment plan--is really p*ssing me off.

Just a little back story. My ortho has two offices, one on the north and one on the southside of town. When I first started with my braces, they didn't need to see me all that often, so scheduling wasn't a huge headache. A year into my treatment, a new doctor joined the southside office with the idea that he would buy the practice from him in time. Once he joined, they offered expanded hours, including early mornings. The timing was really fortunate, because we had reached a point in my treatment where I needed to be seen much more often. Over the next year, things were great, as I had a standing 7:30 a.m. appointment every two weeks.

Then, out of nowhere, the new doctor and all of his staff disappeared. I don't know why or what happened, but when I showed up for an August appointment, all the old people were there and all the new were gone. Without explanation. It sort of freaked me out, especially since I liked the new doctor and staff better.

But that also means that the old doctor is back to limited hours at the soutside location. I really try to avoid having to go in the middle of the day. For one thing, I have a job. For another, the office is in between my house and my office. He's only at the southside office a day or two a week, so if I can't make it that day, it totally screws me up.

So, when it became apparent today that they had few appointments, I sort of lost it. I'm tired of the braces as it is, but not they've become an even bigger pain in the butt. I'm done paying for them, so the thought of taking my file and finding a new doctor isn't appealing either. It's like I'm a hostage.

Ugh.