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I Love Dentists
I love dentists.
I know some people don’t feel that way about dentists, but I think my actions through the years have demonstrated that dentists have a special place in my heart.
I’m going to be honest with you. Because of me, some dentists have lakeside cabins, motorhomes, and probably even took luxury cruises on the Mediterranean.
It has to be love on my part.
Why else would I take such good care of them?
It wasn’t always so
Now I have to admit that wasn’t always the case.
I didn’t always love dentists.
Growing up … well, perhaps I should give you a little background.
I’ve had a long and memorable relationship with dentists that goes back to my childhood.
My brother and I were raised by our grandmother. She was a wonderful woman, but someone must have convinced her that it was important for my brother and I go to the dentist every so often, because she took us to the dentist over and over.
I was always told it was just for a checkup.
When my brother went into the exam room for his checkup, he was smiling. A short time later, when he came out of the exam room, he was still smiling. And I assumed the dentist must have patted him on the head and commended him for taking such good care of his teeth.
It seemed like he never had a cavity.
My experience with the dentist back in those years was not quite like his.
It’s not that I had bad teeth.
Well, it is, but it’s also a bit more than that.
When I went into the exam room I wasn’t smiling. I took my seat in the special dentist chair, had a bib strapped around my neck so I wouldn’t drool on myself, and then was given a small paper cup.
Back then, we didn’t have tubes that sprayed water into your mouth or tubes that sucked up the water from your mouth.
I was given a tiny paper cup, put a small amount of water in it, swished the water around in my mouth, then spit it into a bowl next to the dentist’s chair.
I did that over and over throughout the session with my dentist.
Unlike my brother, who seemed to never have a cavity, I seemed to have multiple cavities every time I came in for my routine “check up”.
And cavities weren’t just brushed out of your teeth, or even poked out with the long pointing metal things they stuck in my mouth.
No. To remove cavities, the dentist resorted to the drill.
I can still hear the distinct sound that drill made.
Time to Drill
Many of you are probably wondering why it was such a big deal to me. I mean you take the shot of Novocain, wait for the area around your tooth to go numb, let the dentist do his thing with the drill, then wait for him to fill the hole he drilled with something, and you were done.
That’s not how it went for me.
I don’t know if it was because my grandmother was poor — she was very poor and would sometimes go without eating a meal so that my brother and I would have food — or if she was just opposed stuff being injected into your body with needles.
Whatever the reason, when I went to the dentist, Novocain was not on the menu.
So, I was spared the experience of watching the dentist hold up a syringe with a very long needle, and then letting him inject it in my mouth.
When he drilled, and scraped, and poked with his pointy thing … I felt everything.
For those of you who haven’t gone through the experience of having a cavity “fixed” without Novocain, trust me, it hurts.
So, my early experiences with dentists were not pleasant.
Just thinking of a visit to the dentist was painful.
Thank you, United States Army
Then things changed.
I was in my early 20’s and my enlistment in the Army was coming to an end. They tried to fix up some of my medical issues that they didn’t have time to deal with when I was in Vietnam. Among the issues they planned to repair before my return to civilian life were my teeth.
I remember sitting in the dental chair while the dentist went through the “checkup.”
Guess what?
Surprise. Surprise.
He discovered several cavities.
I knew what was coming. Unlike my grandmother, the Army believed in shots and the Army was paying for the procedure, so I was going to get Novocain.
I watched as the dentist held up the massive … as in, very, very big … needle, gave it a tap to do I don’t know what, and then smiled as he leaned in toward me.
I was a man. I was a soldier. I had given many shots to other soldiers. I tried to steel myself for what was coming. Lots of people had gone through this. Even little kids had gone through this. Surely I could do it also.
I opened my mouth wide and waited, trying to guess what specifically he was going to stick that needle into. I mean my mouth wasn’t an arm or a leg that I had inserted needles into. It was my mouth. I felt around with my tongue, and it seemed like everything was hard and solid in there.
He said I would feel a little prick, but it wouldn’t hurt.
I prepared for the worst.
But the dentist was right. It didn’t hurt.
The dentist waited until my jaw got numb and then poked my mouth a few times with one of his sharp, pointy things, and I didn’t feel any pain at all. I thought this just might be okay.
But then I heard the drill.
Just the sound of that drill brought back all those memories from my childhood. I could almost feel the pain as that drill made its whining sound.
I opened my mouth as wide as I could. He began to drill and I twitched.
“I’m sorry,” the dentist said.
Sorry?
“Did that hurt?” he asked in a very sympathetic voice.
Hurt? Was he playing with me? He was a dentist. Of course it hurt. That’s what dentists do. They hurt people.
“It shouldn’t hurt,” the dentist said.
Okay, this was getting weird. He apologized to me and said it shouldn’t hurt? What was he talking about?
“Let me know if you feel anything,” he said in a gentle voice as he resumed drilling.
He drilled and drilled. He had me take water in the little paper cup, swish it around in my mouth, and spit it out in the little sink.
But you know what?
It didn’t hurt.
I had gone to the dentist, had my cavities taken care of, and it didn’t hurt.
The world had changed.
That’s when I began to love dentists.
And it’s been that way ever since.
And I’ve tried to show that love in very practical ways.
My Recent Checkup
I had my annual checkup a couple of weeks ago. The dental hygienist took pictures and cleaned my teeth, then the dentist came in and had the pictures display on the TV screen in front of me as he went over my problems that needed to be fixed.
It wasn’t just a cavity this time. It was several cavities, a couple of crowns that needed to be replaced, a bridge that also needed to be removed and replaced, and couple of other things that I don’t even remember.
Then he gave me a printout of the work that needed to be done.
It couldn’t be done in one visit but was scheduled out over seven visits.
But it wasn’t a scary prospect because I knew the procedures wouldn’t hurt. My dentist would make sure I was comfortable. Life was good.
The printout also showed what those procedures would cost.
I smiled.
I still didn’t feel any physical pain.
I figured I just gave my dentist the opportunity to purchase a boat so he could enjoy the beautiful lakes in Montana.
It was another opportunity to show that I love dentists.
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Before I go, I’d like to share a blessing with you from the Old Testament.
“May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26 (The Living Bible)
Until next time … be the reason someone smiles today
I Love Dentists