Monday, August 9, 2010

Life Lessons from a Dental Hygenist

I don't know about you, but I have never been fond of going to the dentist.  In fact, so not-fond, that I did not go for years...until I could no longer eat on one side of my mouth because of a sensitive tooth!

I bit the bullet- so to speak - and headed to a nice, new dental office in my new hometown.  They quickly fit me in to see the dentist, who was very nice even though I was so nervous that I tears ran down my face the entire time I was there.  After he diagnosed my issue, and set me up for cleaning (uggghhhh!!!) and deep scaling (!!@#@!$), I booked another appointment for the next day.  I was pretty proud of myself.

So the next day, I headed in to meet with the dental hygenist - let's call her K.  She was the sweetest, kindest person I have ever met.  I apologized to her for my nervous state and of course the tears.  K developed a plan to complete a quarter of my mouth at a time so that I would not have to endure the pain and stress for a long period of time.  She was helpful, educational, talked me through each step and let me hold the suction tube so that I felt like I had some control over the procedure.

We got through 1/4 of my mouth after numbing and freezing...I had to book another appointment to do the next section.  The office was placing bets to see if I would actually show up to do the next section.  I did!!!  And I was not tearful this time, just nervous.  But we got through it together.  K kept up a steady stream of one-sided conversation because it is tough to answer when her hand was in my mouth.  K also made sure that if I needed freezing or a break, we would take it.

Needless to say, after 2 more visits, and the purchase of a Water-Pik, I am now in a better position both mentally and physically.  If it weren't for the kindness of K, I never would have gone back.

Life Lessons: 
  • while there are scary things to do in life, we need to do them and will be better for them
  • people come into your life to get you through things and teach you along the way
  • be grateful for kindness and pay it forward
  • there are special people in the world, sometimes you find them, sometimes they find you!

Thanks K :)

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