The 12 weirdest things a coworker has ever done inside a dental practice

Let's face it and be honest here. We've all had that one job where that one person worked with us-and we wondered what was wrong with that person. I mean, he or she might have been perfectly nice and treated us perfectly fine-but there was just something different about him or her. Some people called it quirky. Some people called it odd. Some people called it just plain creepy.

Those same quirky, odd, and creepy folks work in dental practices around the country as well, it seems. We recently asked you to tell us what was the weirdest thing you ever saw a coworker do in the dental practice. We had lots of submissions, and we went through and picked out the 12 best (or creepiest, depending on how you look at it) that you submitted to us.

These submissions made us laugh and shake our heads. We think you'll have the same reaction. You might even appreciate your "normal" coworkers a little more after reading some of these tales.

Read on to see the 12 weirdest things that people ever saw one of their coworkers do inside the dental practice.

Resignation noted

We had a coworker quit by Post-it Note. It simply said "I Quit" and she signed her name, then she slipped out the back door. And it was one of those tiny Post-it Notes. She stuck it to the bottom edge of her computer monitor like it was a reminder note.

A hairy situation

Years ago, a coworker had hair extensions done and the next day she freaked out during patient care. She decided they were "possessed" and tried to pull them out. That was a strange situation!

What a treasure

A coworker dumped the treasure box toys out on the floor of the sterilization area, got down on her hands and knees, and went through them all, gathering all the bracelets. She wore them all on one arm and took them home. Needless to say, she was on drugs and did not last very much longer as an employee.

Full moon

Well, I walked into the X-ray room and all I saw was her bare butt! I just couldn't believe I was being mooned at work!

That sinking feeling

A co-worker retrieved a patient's crown after it accidentally fell into a sink and went down the drain.

Inside-out thinking

I work for a temp agency. In one office they sent me to, the dentist tried justifying if they turned their gloves inside out while reaching in the drawer, going to use his cell phone in his office, etc., and then turned them back inside out and work on the patient! I was shocked! I told him that was not OK and certainly not OSHA approved! Sadly, this was just a couple of weeks ago! I can see maybe they would think that way in the 1980s, but not this day and age! Needless to say, I asked not to go back there!

Close to the heart

I worked with an animal-loving hygienist a few years ago. She was always rescuing cats, dogs, birds, squirrels, you name it. Well, one day as she was working away, she suddenly had to leave her patient for a minute. She had to go in the restroom and adjust her bra-that had a little tiny bunny in it! OMG! A live bunny!

The barter system

Our receptionist asked a patient to trade his car to the doctor for payment of a procedure. When the patient declined, she then asked for his bank account number to just withdraw the amount directly.

Handy solution

I saw an assistant reach in the ultrasonic for an instrument with gloves, dry off the gloves and go straight to a patient, using the same gloves. That's the worst thing I've seen by far.

Spidey sense

While putting away supplies in an operatory where a doctor and his assistant were working on a restorative patient, I noticed a spider (a rather large spider at that) crawling up the belly of the patient. Wide-eyed and open-mouthed, I pointed the spider out to the assistant. Without a moment's hesitation, the assistant seamlessly removed the high-speed evacuator from the patient's mouth, suctioned up the spider, and proceeded back to her assisting duties with the high-speed suction! She did not skip a beat. It was as if nothing out of the ordinary just happened! I just stood there in disbelief.

A zitty situation

I saw a coworker squeeze the other coworker's blackhead in the sterilization area.

Gently used

I once saw an office-trained assistant pick up a set of used amalgam instruments in her bare hand, spray each end of the bundle with disinfectant, scrub them with a brush, rinse them under a faucet, and put them back on the disinfected tray to use with the next patient.