Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I just started HRT a few days ago (low dose Estradiol and Finasteride). I'm not out to anyone except my wife, my meds doctor and my therapist. I present male publicly 100%. I need to find a new dentist and make an appointment. Will I have to out myself to them by listing my new meds?

Yes.

You need to list all your medications to every health care provider you get any type of treatment from.

Dental records are just as confidential as any other medical record. There is no need to be concerned about other people knowing your situation. Besides, in a few months you will be showing signs of transition anyway. It is best to be up front and totally honest with all your health care providers.

During my most recent checkup my dentist asked if I had any change in medication, so I just gave him the full run down of Estradiol, Spiro and Progesterone. He pretty much shrugged and said "OK". that was that. I did show up in a dress that day, so it was pretty obvious anyways.

I have to admit the first time I listed my HRT meds, it was with a mix of happy pride and being nervous. I had asked my GP before if he would want to take care of my hormones and based on his stupid comment I changed doctors in the same practice, I pretty much told the office manager I do not want him any more due to his bad bedside manners.

Most other doctors have not reacted at all, even during the times I did not present female. I am sure any medical professional who is somewhat up to date can figure out what is up simply based on the combination of meds. Dani is absolutely right, whatever you write on that piece of paper is confidential. I also agree that a doctor should know about all meds you take even tough at a dentist there is little need unless you need some dental surgery when they need to know about changes to your blood clotting.

Good luck at the dentist (yeah, my checkup ended in a cracked crown, then a root canal and now he discovered a wisdom tooth needs to be removed. Great.) - I hope you do not have to go through any of this.

I know I should have, but my dentist is a close friend and I hadn't come out to him yet at my first appointment after HRT started. I was full-time at the next appointment and clued them in.  (He knew by then)

Medical professionals (including dentists) do need to know. They are legally not allowed to disclose sny info except on a need to know basis to other health professionals.

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Only recently did I discover on another thread on Susans' that a dentist can tell from teeth the assigned at birth gender of a patient!

Pamela

For your own safety, your dentist needs to know your meds.

It can be to your advantage for your dentist to know about your transition.  I get mine to freeze my upper lip before getting electrolysis there.

Quote from: pamelatransuk on May 24, 2018, 05:45:20 AM
Only recently did I discover on another thread on Susans' that a dentist can tell from teeth the assigned at birth gender of a patient!

Pamela

There was a study in Berlin that concluded that dental experts can't reliable tell sex from simply looking at teeth alone. Of course, if a dentist is actually trying to determine your biological sex from examining your teeth, they probably already suspect you're a transgender individual.

Quote from: Katie Ellen on May 16, 2018, 05:54:35 AM
I just started HRT a few days ago (low dose Estradiol and Finasteride). I'm not out to anyone except my wife, my meds doctor and my therapist. I present male publicly 100%. I need to find a new dentist and make an appointment. Will I have to out myself to them by listing my new meds?

Hi Katie Ellen,

I'm on low dose Estradiol and Dutasteride for over 2 years now.  I discussed this situation with my family doctor and he didn't think there was any reason to tell my dentist especially on a low dose of E.   He wondered how telling my dentist would change anything in the way I was treated. 

I have a fairly common blood clotting disorder.  I bruise and bleed more easily than most.  99.9% of the time, I'm treated exactly the same as other patients.  A little bit of E is not going to make any difference.  You realize half the dentists patients have considerably more E going through their veins.

Take care,
Paige :)

Yeah i remember being faced with this decision before i was out and it was further complicated by the fact that the dentist was sort of a family friend and his daughter played sports with mine.

But yes, you have to tell them for your safety. They cannot release this information to anyone even casually without breaking the law. In the instance above, i saw no negative consequences and i still go to the same dentist.

Just this morning after being alerted to this, I went to the hygienist. 
I have to admit it was awkward with no real privacy in the work area to talk about it.
I wanted to talk to my dentist first, but she was busy with another patient.
I have been going to this office for quite a while and know all of them well.
I asked for my dentist private email where I revealed my medications and what to expect when it came to any transition.
I sent that an hour ago. 

Quote from: Jessica on May 24, 2018, 03:12:30 PM
Just this morning after being alerted to this, I went to the hygienist. 
I have to admit it was awkward with no real privacy in the work area to talk about it.
I wanted to talk to my dentist first, but she was busy with another patient.
I have been going to this office for quite a while and know all of them well.
I asked for my dentist private email where I revealed my medications and what to expect when it came to any transition.
I sent that an hour ago. 

Wow, quick return answer!
Entirely supportive as I expected.  I have felt the whole group is a bit like family.
My dentist was thankful for the information and asked if I was having problems with a dry or sticky feeling in my mouth, mornings in particular.  She said with my medications there could be saliva issues.  There are!

QuoteI asked for my dentist private email where I revealed my medications and what to expect when it came to any transition.

When I get a prescription filled, I receive a card listing all the prescriptions I'm on.  When needed, I just provide the card and they get the info they need.  Sometimes, they'll make a photo copy.

I'm all for personal liberty, but the drug safety and instruction pamphlet that comes with all estradiol says to inform all your medical providers of all the drugs you are taking. Period. End of sentence. It doesn't say:

"But don't worry about telling them if you think you know better."

Also, get all your prescriptions filled by one pharmacist.  Part of their job is watching for conflicts.

I told my dentist that I had been going to for years that I am transgender and if he had a problem with it then fine, I'm happy to go somewhere else.   He assured me that he had no problems at all with it whatsoever. **cough cough** weasel **cough cough**.

First couple of visits after that he kept calling me sir then following it immediately with "oh. I'm sorry. ma'am."
I put up with this for about three visits. On the fourth he just did away with the niceties completely and started calling me sir without correcting himself. A direct "in your face" insult to me.

Long story short.  I found a new dentist.

Quote from: Devlyn on May 24, 2018, 05:24:47 PM
I'm all for personal liberty, but the drug safety and instruction pamphlet that comes with all estradiol says to inform all your medical providers of all the drugs you are taking. Period. End of sentence. It doesn't say:

"But don't worry about telling them if you think you know better."

Hi Devlyn,

You do realize the pharmaceutical manufacturers say that to cover their butts. 

We're all intelligent adults here.  We discuss different treatment regime all the time.  Why in this case do we just take it for granted that you should do this without a detailed reason why.

Thanks,
Paige :)

Yes, you should put down the medications you are on via HRT on the "new patient" registration form. Doubt they will grill you on it. You don't have to spell it out for them all at reception or anything or state you are trans. Nobody asked me squat.

Quote from: Paige on May 25, 2018, 01:30:31 PM
Hi Devlyn,

You do realize the pharmaceutical manufacturers say that to cover their butts. 

We're all intelligent adults here.  We discuss different treatment regime all the time.  Why in this case do we just take it for granted that you should do this without a detailed reason why.

Are you familiar with pharmacology to know the risks of mixing various medications?  There are a lot of medications that can conflict.  Do you know what all the conflicts are?  It is the role of the doctors and pharmacists to determine risk, based on their expert knowledge.

Quote from: AnneK on May 25, 2018, 03:16:45 PM
Are you familiar with pharmacology to know the risks of mixing various medications?  There are a lot of medications that can conflict.  Do you know what all the conflicts are?  It is the role of the doctors and pharmacists to determine risk, based on their expert knowledge.

Hi Anne,

As I stated in my original post, I discussed this with my doctor whose opinion I would put ahead of my dentist.  He stated they didn't need to know.  He's the one prescribing me E.

Instead of obediently telling the dentist, why not suggest discussing the situation with your family doctor or endo who are prescribing the medication?

As to knowing the conflicts and issues, please tell me some.  We seem to be able to discuss issues with Premarin and Provera.  I bet you could still find doctors who think it's a good idea to take those medications.

All I would like to know is what's the possible conflicts that makes it a given that this needs to be done.

The other thing that needs to be considered is privacy.  Some people are out and it doesn't matter but there are people like me that aren't.  At my dentist office, multiple hygienists look at my file.  There's a much bigger office staff that has access to my file.  Sorry I'm not going to volunteer this information without a really good reason.

Take care,
Paige :)