Guest Editorial: How Lucky We Are …

Natasha Lee, DDS

Peering out from behind my PPE and trying to say hello over the white noise of the air purifier, I sat down to do Lisa’s recall exam just like I had every six months for the many years I’ve been her dentist.

I asked her if she and her family were doing okay and she became quiet for a moment. She then explained that even though her family was totally healthy, she and her husband both had stable jobs and could work from home, and their kids were not suffering academically, she still found herself collapsed down on the floor in a sobbing mess recently.

A week later, I asked another patient how she was doing, knowing that she was an ICU nurse. Her eyes welled up with tears and she didn’t even have to say a thing for me to know that she was not OK. Yet another patient told me with all sincerity that he needed to get back to work for the sake of his marriage and his sobriety.

And on numerous occasions over the past many months, we’ve all had patients tell us how their visit to the dental office was really their first outing during the pandemic and how amazing it was for them to get to have a conversation with someone outside of their household, in person rather than on Zoom.

So lately I’ve been reflecting a lot on how very lucky we are to be dentists.

In the middle of a pandemic, we’ve been the ones who have figured out a way to safely interact with people up close and personally. We get to leave the house each day and interact with co-workers and patients. We’ve been able to maintain human connectivity like very few have, and we should not take that for granted.

In the middle of a pandemic, we’ve been the ones who have figured out a way to safely interact with people up close and personally.

I also think about how much our patients have confirmed for us how much they really trust us. They have not only demonstrated trust in our infection control standards during a pandemic, but have shown us how much they trust us enough to tell us what ails them other than just tooth #19.

There have been numerous reports of patients seeking dental care for broken teeth and restorations, TMJ and muscle pain, many physical and outward signs of the stress and anxiety within. While the pandemic has taught us how resilient we really are, we will probably continue to see both the physical and emotional aftermath of what has been an incredibly challenging period of our lives.

As dentists we are uniquely positioned to be able to not only identify dental disease, but as compassionate human beings and empathetic listeners, we are truly capable of bringing so much more to our patients. And of course, we must also make sure we are being compassionate and empathetic with ourselves. As we are getting vaccinated and feeling a sense of hope on the horizon for a return to normal, I hope that we don’t lose sight of what we have learned from these extraordinary times about the importance of human connection, and how lucky we are to be dentists.

Natasha Lee, DDS, is the president of the San Francisco Dental Society and a former CDA president. She has a private practice in San Francisco.

Reprinted with permission from the San Francisco Dental Society.