The life of a Dentist

I have always enjoyed tinkering with things. As a child, I would take my toys apart and put them back together making sure there were no leftover pieces. While in college, it was time to decide what to do with my life. I was very interested in the sciences and work in a genetics lab. So one option was to get a PhD and be stuck in a lab for the rest of my life, occasionally teaching a class or two at a university. But after deep thought, I remembered how much I actually enjoyed going to the dentist as a child because mine was a pretty cool guy. I was fortunate enough to never have a cavity so it was pretty much a social event for me twice a year.

So after college, I went to dental school and have been practicing for nearly 2 decades now. I love my profession and enjoy the fruits of my labor. I am embarrassed though when I see many of my colleagues taking advantage of their patients. They will routinely tell people they need to have fillings replaced or teeth crowned that are healthy. Because I stick to the motto "if it's not broken don't fix it" I have a thriving practice with all of my patients coming from referrals. My patients trust me and refer their friends and family because of it.

I wish everyone in every profession had morals. I've dealt with a refrigerator repair man that wanted to charge me for a new condenser when it was simply a bad fan motor, a car repair person who told me I need extensive work on my air-conditioner when I really just needed A boost of coolant, and the examples go on.vand on. We can all relate.

Long story short, if your intuition tells you your dentist is trying to sell you something you need to go for a second opinion. Your intuition is often right and will prevent you from having unnecessary work done and otherwise healthy teeth kept that way.

MolarMender