Someone is reviewing my face and my clothes, not my dentistry

The reviews on my practice page began cataloging my face and my clothes instead of my dentistry. One called me arrogant and said my smile looked fake. Another described what I wore on a specific day, which meant the writer had been watching me. A third mocked the way I speak to patients and called me smug. None of them mentioned a procedure, a diagnosis, or a bill. The comments grew more personal each week, and the tone edged toward contempt. It became clear that the target was me as a person, not the care I provide.

HIPAA prevents me from confirming or denying that any of these writers is a patient of mine. What is obvious is that the content is not about treatment at all. Remarks about my face, my clothing, and my personality are not reviews of dental work in any honest sense. The detail about what I wore on a particular day tells me this is personal and observational. If I responded, I would be signaling that I recognize the pattern and possibly who is behind it, which is exactly what I cannot do. The escalation from professional to personal is the whole story here. I am left watching a portrait of contempt assemble itself while I stay silent.

I became self conscious in my own operatory, aware that my appearance was being scrutinized and mocked. The knowledge that someone had noted what I wore made me feel watched at work. My anxiety rose steadily, and I started dreading the days I checked my page. The personal nature of the attacks wounded me more than any complaint about a crown ever could. I worried that patients scrolling the page would absorb the contempt and think less of me. My confidence at the chair wavered in small but real ways. The emotional toll of being mocked as a person, not corrected as a professional, was heavy.

I spoke with an attorney, who advised silence because any response would confirm recognition and likely feed the escalation. I reported the reviews to the platform, focusing on the harassing and personal nature rather than any care claim. I preserved dated screenshots of each comment, noting the shift from professional to personal over time. I reviewed who might have visibility into my daily routine and quietly adjusted some habits. I let my staff know to alert me to anything unusual around the office. I reminded myself that the content revealed the writer's intent more than any flaw in my work. Then I concentrated on the patients in front of me, since engaging the campaign publicly was not an option.