The Reluctant Spouse

24 / 05 / 2023

The Reluctant Spouse

As a child of The 70’s, dentists held a special place in my mind, usually at the very back of it. Anyone reading this that had dental work as a child during the 70’s will understand what I mean, little or no pain relief, being held down whilst the dentist did his best to do his work, crowded and stuffy waiting rooms and the dreaded “rubber mask”……… If I close my eyes I can still smell the rubber.

So when I reached my teens I simply stopped going to the dentist, if I brushed my teeth twice a day there would be no problems and no need to see the dentist. Simple. I happily went along for the next 20 years, my teeth getting progressively worse but I thought I could manage it. Then it happened, one toffee too many and my tooth broke. After neglecting my teeth for all those years, I was down to eating on one side only by this stage anyway, and the newly broken tooth was on my “good” side. I had no choice, and the pain was too much:

I had to go…….to THE DENTIST….

I received a personal recommendation to Absolute Dental (from my wife, who had for many years been gentle nudging me to take some action), and driven on by the pain from my broken tooth, made an initial appointment. The first thing that struck me when I arrived was how much it had changed. I walked through the door, I smelt flowers and scented candles (not that “dentist smell” that I remembered so vividly!), I was greeted by attentive staff who knew who I was, why I was there and who I’d be seeing. The waiting area was light, spacious and relaxing. I was offered a cup of coffee! It was like a whole new world! My dentist, Mr. John talked to me (he didn’t “tell me off” for my years of neglect, as I worried he would), he explained what he needed to do, why he’d be doing it, and most importantly to me – what I should do if I needed him to stop. After some gentle reassurance, I felt like I had some control over the situation, and I began to relax. Mr Johns assistant was overseeing everything in a calm and efficient manner; no rush, no panic we’ll go at your pace.

As you can imagine, there was more than this one sorry tooth that needed some attention, but everything was explained to me, and the treatment carried out in stages that I could manage.

Absolute Dental now help me to maintain my new and improved healthy mouth; regular check ups, dental hygienist treatment and spreading the cost with a monthly membership have restored my faith in a profession I was once happy to turn my back on. Although the smell of the rubber mask is still there, the anxiety is not and for that I thank you.

NC – Kingsbridge