Good day to all of you and welcome to Grateful Heart Monday, where I give thanks for someone or something that has blessed my life, which for today is for Corner Dental in Oregon, Ohio.
Before I get into why I’m grateful for Corner Dental though, let me first get this out there by saying I’m definitely not a fan of dentists whatsoever. That whirring noise of all those polishers and sanders that go on my teeth, constantly making that ‘zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz’ noise usually makes my skin crawl and often makes my teeth hurt as well whenever they’re used on them. And then there’s all that poking and prodding and scraping with those metal tools that frequently leave my gums and teeth totally sensitive and aching. So yeah, I’m not a big fan of dentists as you can see.
Nevertheless, I recently switched over to Oregon Corner Dental when I learned my favorite hygienist had left my previous dental office and moved there. Her name’s Ann and she’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. She really knows exactly how to calm the writhing nerves while working with all those anxiety-producing tools in your mouth and someone I look forward to seeing, even when I don’t look forward to my visits in general.
Unfortunately, there are those times though when dental issues do arise that are beyond those standard dental cleanings and in my case, I just experienced one of them quite recently when a composite filling covering up a chipped tooth from over 15 years ago fell out during my sleep. Thankfully, as soon I discovered it, Oregon Corner Dental was able to schedule me a few days out, which I was surprised given how visits at most dental offices always seem to be weeks to months out.
During my visit, both the dentist and his assistant did a lot to ease my fears. I kept asking a lot of questions, which is something I tend to do whenever I feel afraid. But not once did they make me feel like any of them were a bother. And even when the procedure was over, while I was walking out of the office, when I suddenly felt like my bite wasn’t coming down right, they took me right back in to check, just to make sure I was fully confident in their dental work.
Regrettably, four weeks later, while I was flossing, that replacement composite filling popped out again. And when it happened late on a Saturday night, it completely overwhelmed me, mostly because of all the other health issues I have been dealing with. You could say that my frustration and fears got the best of me at that point, as for the next 36 hours, until I was able to call them first thing on Monday morning when they opened at 8am, I was a complete and total mess.
I’m thankful to report though that Oregon Corner Dental took me in right away on Monday morning when I called, allowing me to be there for an 8:30am visit. After sitting in the dental chair for a bit, waiting for the dentist, one of the assistants told me that their office was getting overly packed with appointments that showed up rather early and wondered if I could be rescheduled. I told her my nerves were rather shot and that I hadn’t eaten or slept much since the chip had fallen back out, all of which was true. She understood and the dentist allowed me to be squeezed into his very busy morning. An hour or so later, I was back home and felt far more relieved.
As you can see, hypochondria and health-related fears continue to drag me down a lot these days. I get so frustrated with it all, especially when it comes to things that deal with my appearance like my teeth. Yes, I still struggle with vanity issues and will keep on working on letting them go, but I’m not there yet. So, when it comes to teeth issues, I tend to still let them get to me a lot more than I probably should.
Nonetheless, I at least wanted to offer a little gratitude today for Oregon Corner Dental, for knowing how to handle a hypochondria and health fearing type of guy like me with nothing but kindness and kid gloves…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
