I went a few years back and midway into a cleaning, the hygenist excused herself and returned with the dentist to inform me the session was over. He pulled the bib off of me, gave me a referral for another dentist 100 miles away, and sent me on my way. I always wondered why he did that with no explanation. Yesterday, i went to a new dentist in town, i have a cavity, so i sat down, telling the girl what had happened during my last visit. She took an x-ray, went to get the dentist and returned with her. The dentist looks over the x-ray telling me the cavity had gone down to the root and i'd need a root canal and crown, BUT the tooth is too crooked to hold a crown so she said she advises an extraction. I say O.K., she then asks me what my liver enzyme readings were and if i was a bleeder. Now it hits me...I have hepatitis C and this gal aint touching me. I told her i bled like any other 54 year old with thin skin. She hands me a referral to the same guy 100 miles away where the last dentist referred me to even though they do root canals and extractions in-house. Hepaphobia has set in here in upstate SC and i'll be considering the old fashioned way when the pain gets to be unbearable.