My Dentist

Dental orphan finds a new home.

Several years ago our longtime family dentist passed away unexpectedly after having some minor surgery. Out of loyalty to his assistant and his dental hygienist (also his wife), we followed them to another practice. This past February our beloved dental hygienist also, quite suddenly, passed away. Over the years she had become a friend and was one of my biggest supporters as I traveled down the road of adult orthodontics. We were very saddened by her passing.

So now, not feeling a lot of loyalty to the new practice but also not having another practice in mind, we've been left to wonder should we stay or should we go. On Sunday afternoon, I showed another sign of aging and broke a tooth. I called the practice we have been going to first thing Monday morning and was given an appointment with a dentist that was hired about a month ago. He was so nice, competent, polite, willing to listen and answer questions and most importantly treated his assistant with respect. And actually his manner in some ways reminds me a lot of my dentist that passed away. It was a bit of an adjustment to find out he's younger than I am but the way he carried himself certainly didn't show it.

And so, for the first time in a few (somewhat traumatic) dental years, I finally feel like I can once again use the term "my dentist".