The Dentist

We've been having some work done on Carolyn's teeth.  It really feels like when one thing goes wrong, something else will also fail.  Carolyn is certainly getting her share of misery.

Being new to the area, we had to pick from a dozen or so Dentists here in our new town.  Carolyn settled on one who's sign in his parking lot proclaimed he  practiced "Dentistry for Cowards".   It was a fortunate choice.

We set up an appointment for new x-rays and a consult several weeks ago.  Now it's not just everyone who can handle a person with Carolyn's needs, but these folks did a great job of it.  They were caring, attentive and welcomed her to the practice.  After the consult, we were told she needed a good cleaning and a couple of crowns.  Fillings on two prior root canals had loosened.  Or something.  I'm not a dentist......

Anyway, we had one of the crowns done last week and the first thing Carolyn did was bite her cheek.  The sore cheek bothered her a bunch so we tried to get an emergency appointment to have it looked at.  Our new dentist was unavailable, but he had a colleague who would see her in his absence.  Right.  Being the cynical kind of guy I am, I had visions of him and his family cruising on a serene lake in their big, fast boat while Carolyn suffered.

I always manage to imagine things in a much worse light than they actually are.  I ascribe ulterior motives to anything at all that goes against my own personal needs.  Yeah, that makes me a prime believer in all things having the word "Conspiracy" at the front, or at the end, of it.   It's kinda cool to believe the aliens came from Venus just as it was getting a little too warm to live there, and in a fit of jealousy over our beautiful green planet, gave us fire and gasoline with which we could totally wreck our world.  All this mess is not our fault - it's the aliens that made us do it.  This here is 'Merica, and we're all good 'Mericans.  No way we'd mess up the place on our own.  You betcha. 

So, we went to another new Dentist's office to have him look at Carolyn's cheek.  He smoothed a rough place on the temporary crown so it would not further aggravate the cheek, and gave her some kind of healing cream for her mouth.  As he was working on her, he casually mentioned the reason her real Dentist was unavailable was because his wife was having brain surgery.  Wow.  Was I ever wrong - unless somebody's gotten good enough to do that stuff on a boat while it's bobbing around in a lake.

Anyway, this week we went in to have the permanent crown put on.   Carolyn was lead into the Room With The Chair and I went in search of a quiet place where I could read my airplane magazine.  There were several kids in the waiting room with a youngster, who acted a whole lot like their father,  trying to keep them entertained.  He turned to me and started a conversation.

This kid, the one entertaining the kids, was Carolyn's Dentist!  He had heard Carolyn's distinctive slur, realized I was her sorrier half, and wanted to apologize for not being able to see her when things had gone awry.

I inquired about his wife, and told him I completely understood him putting her ahead of mundane stuff like making a living.  We talked awhile during the time Carolyn was being prepared for her ordeal, and I learned his wife suffered from seizures.  A neurologist had pinpointed the area of her brain that was causing the problem, and as far as anyone could tell, the operation had been successful. 

The Dental Assistant came to let him know Carolyn was ready, we said goodbye and wished each other luck caring for our disabled spouses.  Leaving his children to the care of a nanny, he went to treat my wife. 

Of all the Dentists we could have chosen, we picked one who also has a disabled wife.  No wonder Carolyn is receiving such special and wonderful care.  He understands.