Patch Blog: The Smile from Within

So about a year ago something really surprising happened right here in Temple City. Nope, work on Rosemead Blvd hadn’t been completed (do pigs finally fly?) and development of the Piazza (coming soon) hadn’t commenced. For the most part, it was still 2006...until I opened the envelope.

Couldn’t believe it; a professional writer was actually asking for feedback from li’l ole molar jockey me. What a reversal! And maybe this time I could take out a red Bic and scribble down something like “What is it about making a point and telling a story that you can’t seem to understand???”

When I met with A Few Words from the Chair author/patient-advocate David Clow, he observed a typical dental experience could be all about clinical smiles while no actual smiling was going on. It was often like, for the lack of a friendly, human smile, a smile was lost. Maybe all kinds of technology wasn’t compensating for too little conversation. And what about the “smile from within”?

Clow’s book basically looked at the typical dentistry experience from the patient’s perspective. What was working? What was missing? What were the possibilities? Who was listening?

At the time, Clow, a medical writer and novelist, was working with Southern Cal Edison; his job was transforming innovative technical stuff into an informative, useful message that could connect with consumers. Guess it was obvious why David was intrigued by a similar challenge existing in dentistry.

I was flattered that Clow had actually read some of my stuff and had a copy of my first book Can we Smile?  Couldn’t wait to read A Few Words.

Clow wrote of the transcendent smile on the face of the Buddha. And how can you help but wonder about the health and happiness on the inside creating such an expressive result on the outside? Turns out, some traditional Eastern meditation exercises are designed to cultivate an inner smile. Buddhists and Taoists teach smiling is good medicine (a concept unknown in most dental school faculty circles.)

Clow quotes Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh, explaining, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile and sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

About a month ago when I met new patient Martha, she was upset, depressed, and frustrated. And she was sobbing. Martha was basically being held captive by a smile she wouldn’t, or couldn’t, share. I remember sitting down and being part a conversation. I did most of the listening. Seemed like the best care we could offer that first day was a friendly ear and equal doses of understanding and reassurance. Martha could have been my daughter.

So I’ve yet to experience an official endorphin during spin class (but who can pass on riding a stationary bike and listening to techno in a roomful of mirrors?) And shucks, just thinking about restoring smiles like Martha’s every day has me going totally Decaprio just like I was King of the World!

Martha later shared that on leaving the office with her new smile she pulled over to the side of Las Tunas, glanced up into the rear view mirror and cried…from relief and joy. And the smile we get to see today is a great match for the beautiful person we met on Day One.

I seriously used to wonder about “Family” dentistry. Like, was the alternative “Hot Singles” dentistry or even worse, “Disco” dentistry? But today, I think I finally understand; I get it. And what is family dentistry if not a loving network of smiles from within?