I recently had the pleasure of having major work done my teeth with Dr Sheryl Smithies. It should be noted that, before the treatments, of which there were several, I had a chronic fear of dentists. When I say “fear”, I mean I’d rather have my fingernails pulled out and then be hung, drawn and quartered than sit in a dentist chair. However, my wife “persuaded” me to go, in order to get my teeth fixed. My wife can be very persuasive. So, on a sunny Tuesday morning I found myself sitting in Dr Sheryl’s chair. She was very friendly and smiled, assuring me that everything was going to be fine. “For whom?”, I wondered. I open my mouth and she began her assessment of the scope of works. Dentists like to speak to their assistants in code: “m25, B17, c12 blah, blah blah” etc. This is perfectly normal and you shouldn’t let that worry you. It’s designed to communicate the depth of the disaster without the patient panicking. And it worked well for me because I find that, the more ignorant I am, the happier I am. Dr Sheryl and her assistant then began to tackle the challenge set before them. Typically, dentists like to wait until you have three fingers, a drill, two suction hoses and a rubber dam crammed into your face, before they ask questions like:
“are you comfortable?” or “what are the names of your children?” Mercifully, Dr Sheryl doesn’t do this. Being a professional, she already knows that I don’t have anything, even vaguely interesting to say. Instead, she tells you just enough, so you think know what’s going on and you feel comfortable, without scaring the life out of you with all the gory details. All said and done, the scope of work was extensive, incorporating a root canal, at least 9 fillings and cosmetic work on four of the front teeth. Dr Sheryl proceeded confidently and gently, to go about fixing all the problems. (there are pictures available of the before and after) The total time in the chair was several hours but it seemed to fly past very quickly and remarkably comfortably. To say that I am pleased with the result is an understatement.
I couldn’t be happier. Thank you so much.
