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Health & Fitness

The Inner Smile

 The Inner Smile

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 like, for the lack of a friendly smile, a smile was lost. Maybe all the technology wasn’t compensating for too little conversation.

Clow spoke 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? Some traditional Eastern meditation exercises are actually designed to cultivate an inner smile. Buddhists and Taoists teach smiling is good medicine (a concept unexplored by most dental school faculty.)

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About a month ago when I met 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 some understanding and reassurance. Martha could have been my daughter.

We came up with some creative financial and clinical solutions (we didn’t use a dental lab; I saved cost by doing direct bonding.) Being creative and seeing patients as friends and family is what keeps my Inner and outer smile going.

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So I’ve yet to experience a single official endorphin during spin class (riding a stationary bike and listening to techno in a roomful of mirrors.) But 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.

 

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