We had a fine gentleman visit us and offer us a good sum of money [50k in 2009 was my entire EMI, which is still huge], and he had not even brought the patient along. He had this strange request: “It’s my daughter; she is bright and ambitious and has studied through the night to get into the university of her choice in the US. She had a bad and painful experience at the dentist and has since totally neglected her dental problems.’
“She tends to eat while studying and then dozes off without brushing. She guzzles coke to keep herself awake while studying. I can see her cavities every time she talks, but she refuses to visit a dentist. So I request that you be gentle with her; talk to her about hair color or Shakira, but please get her to resolve her dental issues.”
We soon met the indulgent father’s princess. She was bright, no doubt. On examination, she needed
7 root canals!
9 crowns!
10 fillings!
So her DMFT index at the age of 19 was 19 too, and the cost of dental treatment in the US is stupendous.
We soon got the hang of how to get her to cooperate. She was bright, and all we needed to do was appeal to her sensibilities. Tell her what to expect, even if it was pain, and she was delightfully compliant.
We not only fixed all that but also educated her to floss and use the anticavity mouthwash.
We saw her seven years later, armed with a doctorate. My favorite part of the story is now: not a single new cavity or missing filling, and a DMFT she had maintained. This is not about the quality of treatment rendered here, but if you can maintain and follow the anti-cavity programme, you can arrest dental problems.
She never missed her anticavity regimen and was motivated to keep it that way. It’s her effort that is totally commendable to keep a high caries index at bay. It’s stories like hers and some others that reinstate our faith in preventive dentistry.