Shhhh…. Secret Dentistry
シィ〜〜〜、秘密の治療
My last patient yesterday was a 12 year old little girl. She and her brother have been coming to my office since they were 7 and 8 years old. They are always in competition with each other. Who gets better grades in school? Who plays better tennis? Who runs faster? Who plays better piano?
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Two years ago, their whole family came in and I had to tell their father that brother had a cavity, sister was smiling and saying, “Ha, ha! My teeth are better than yours!”
Today, I found a cavity on sister’s tooth. “Oh no! I’ve never had a cavity before! Are you sure?” She asked me.
“Yes, I’m sure. “ I showed her an enlarged picture of the tooth with my camera on my computer screen. Having the cavity look so large on my computer made it unmistakable.
“Don’t tell brother I have a cavity! He will laugh at me!” she made me promise.
“Yes, I don’t talk about your teeth in front of your brother,” I promised her.
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With the white fillings, they look so natural that no one can tell what was done. After I finished filling her tooth, I moved her seat up and handed her the mirror.
“Wow! I can’t even see what you did!” she said surprised.
I told her, “No one will know you have a filling on that tooth except for the 3 people in this room. Me, my assistant and you!”
“Good!” she said and made me promise again not to tell brother.
I promised one more time.
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As she was leaving, I said, “I made a mistake, there WILL be one person in your family who will know you had this filling.”
“Who?” she asked, worried.
“Your dad. Because he will be the one paying for your filling!”
“That’s OK, as long it’s not my brother!” she said with a smile and left my room with her ponytail bouncing along.（次回は６月第２週号掲載）
〈プロフィル〉Dr. Clara Lee ニューヨーク大学歯学部卒業。ニューヨーク大学ブルックデール病院でチーフレジデンス修了。13年以上に及ぶ臨床経験は一般歯科、コスメティック、インプラントを含む。インビザライン認定医。Waterside Dental Care院長として古山医師と共に、多くの日本人患者さんを治療。Dentistryをこよなく愛している。記事提供：Waterside dental Care（Tel：212-683-6260）
