Dentist Love

With every move comes some dreaded tasks.  I'm not talking about the stressful things like: moving out of the former home, logistics to the new home, finding a place to live at the new duty station or adjusting to the new environment, I'm talking about the findings.  Some findings are fun, such as finding new favorite restaurants and coffee shops and finding new friends and places to explore.  Other findings are not fun.  They are dreaded and painful.  My most dreaded searches are for  the following:

• church
• mechanic
• hair stylist
• dentist

The Army just assigned us to a doctor, so that's why it didn't make the list.  But all the others are a nightmare for me.  I could write a book on church shopping, but I'll spare you that information.  Hair stylist is challenging but you can usually tell after one visit if you found a good one.  The last two are lumped into the same category in my book of shady, non-trustworthy individuals.

Why? Simple.  Both do work in mysterious places.  I don't know what my 02 sensor reading told you, I just believe you when you said that the print-out proves my car needs immediate attention.  And when you tell me that my old janky filling needs replaced or else I'll need a root canal and fake teeth, I believe you.  The problem is, sometimes those tricky dentists and mechanics do crap work and they lie about what actually needs done.  

I've been burned by mechanics and dentists in the past, just in case you couldn't tell.

When we arrived in Washington I knew I was well overdue for a good dental cleaning.  Since I didn't have any friends here at the time I couldn't really ask anyone who they recommend for all my dental needs and we were only the second family to move in to our neighborhood so for months I didn't have a neighbor to ask.  So I did what every smart human in this decade does, I Yelped it.  No kidding I searched dentists on Yelp, cross referenced a good one with my insurance list and blammo, I found my dentist.

My dentist was good.  He was kind, he paid attention, he had good chair side manners and he didn't push me to have any procedures done on myself or the boys that were unnecessary.  The downside to that Yelp thing is EVERYONE in the area seemed to like the dentist.  In was incredibly hard to get an appointment and if you had to cancel the one you booked six months out, no chance you will get back in.  Because I liked him, when we moved out of town I didn't bother to look for another dentist.  I figured it would be easy enough just to go back down for cleanings and check ups.  It worked, until the great tooth breaking of 2016.

When G broke his tooth off we needed a local dentist.  Not only did we need someone who could see us right away, but the whole process was going to require multiple visits and a trip down to Olympia was not practical.  I don't know how Matt found the new dentist but it was pretty much equivalent to discovering gold.

Yes.  I love my dentist.  And I love the people who work with him.  And the office is really close to my house and they don't require a six year wait for an appointment.

My dentist is truly awesome.  I guess it is a small practice.  He knows my kids and Matt, he talks about them when he sees me and knows what we all do for work and fun.  I would invite him to Christmas dinner.  I really would.  The dude is educational, thorough, a perfectionist, funny and he seems like a great guy to work for.  Sitting in one of the chairs waiting on treatment is truly entertaining because I can hear him talking to other patients and his staff.

Today, I walked in to the office and the receptionist was feeding a patient's baby a bottle and three toddlers were roaming through the office.  Why?  Because the dad has 5 kids.  One in the chair, one in the lobby getting a bottle and the other three roaming about.  This office made the dad feel comfortable enough to bring his brood along and take care of some dental business.

My dentist office has a therapy dog named Gus.

I love Gus.

Patients can request Gus to come sit with them while they have treatment.  I request that Gus comes and sits with me in the waiting area.  I claimed dentist offices make me nervous and I needed Gus to calm me.  Then the front office manager told me I didn't have to pretend I was nervous, I could just come get Gus.

It's just a dentist.  Does it really matter that he has a therapy dog and he's funny?  Does it matter that he encouraged me to get second opinions from another dentist to make sure I'm happy with his office?  Does it matter that a receptionist will feed a baby with one hand and answer phone calls with another?

Yes.  It does.  If only all office experiences were so pleasant.  I honestly leave that dentist office feeling better than when I went in and it isn't because there was some pain relieving treatment administered.

I'm afraid to give my dentist 5 Stars on Yelp because then other people might encroach on my time with Gus and the ease of getting appointments.

Now....to find a mechanic with a therapy dog and an honest disposition.