Category Archives: Dental

February 24, 2010 · 9:35 am

That was hard work

Another grandchild that I had to sedate and do some work for – Ronin this time.  Thank God it was just a small filling.  I was able to do it without local anaesthetic so it was done in just a few minutes of holding him down to get it done.  A sedated child is not necessarily a cooperative child – just one that will not remember that his grandmother did such a horrible thing to him. 

Actually Ronin was quite a happy tipsy little guy.  He would rather have played.

But that is done and I am VERY glad.  I do not really like having to do this for my grandchildren.  But the alternatives are more than my kids can afford right now.

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February 2, 2010 · 5:39 pm

A lost boy or just a loser?

Thank God that my children are not total idiots like the young guy I saw today. He was squeezed into my full schedule as an emergency. Got in a fight Saturday in Edmonton. Says proudly that, yeah, he threw the first punch and the taxi driver is charging him. But he won – so he says.

Except he has a front tooth pushed back a few millimetres so that now he can’t really close his teeth together. And that tooth is (surprise, surprise) dead and needs a root canal and braces to realign it – or it will need to come out. Oh, yeah and a black eye.

His idea of winning is totally lost on me.

Sounds to me as if he is one big loser – or at least horribly lost.

Can’t help reflecting that this guy is so far from the kind of human being that I believe God intended any person to be. Evil comes in different forms but causing such human waste is part of how I see evil at work.

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Filed under Day to Day, Dental, Reflections

December 23, 2009 · 9:55 pm

The Night Before The Night Before

Last day of work today for a week and a bit.  We finished off the day with a couple of emergencies that walked in to the office at the very last moment.  One fellow I could not help.  My sore hand had been working hard on some fillings and I just did not think it was wise to start an extraction that I might not be able to finish.

So the end of the day was spent catching up on all the last minute shopping, some gifts, some groceries, filled the car with gas and printed off some pictures I need for gifts.  Then I realized that I no longer had my VISA card.  It was not in its customary slot in my wallet. 

I don’t think there is a feeling that is much worse.  I need that card when I travel in January.  There would barely be time to replace it and there are all those accounts set up that I would have to remember to change.  So, my mind began backtracking the events of my afternoon – when had I used it last, etc.  And I realized I had l left it in the chipreader following one of my purchases.  What were the chances of it still being there two hours later?  I almost gave up before returning to the store.  But, I thought I’d better at least give it a try. 

So glad I did!  The person minding the till was still on duty and there was my card.  Wonder of wonders!  Thank God it was safe.  Made my day! 

So, now there are just gifts to wrap, food to cook and a bit of relaxing to do. 

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Filed under Christmas, Dealing with stuff, Dental

December 20, 2009 · 12:58 pm

The Staff Party

I work with a great staff and so our annual office party is always fun.  This year we decided to do something a little bit different so we arranged for a van to take us up to one of the lakes north of town where they have a great restaurant for our festive meal together. 

We also arranged to rent a chalet and have a sled dog presentation to help entertain us for the afternoon. 

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The chalet was cozy and of course allowed us to bring our own booze and have a campfire to enjoy outside.  The weather was really great so we all had a good time.

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We learned a lot of interesting things about the sled dogs too, including how hard they have to work!

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Unfortunately, I tripped and fell, landing on my right thumb.  It is swollen and bruised.  Only sprained I think but that is my working hand.  Tomorrow may be interesting.  😦

The meal was as good as promised – way more food than we could eat! 

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And my partner and fellow dentist was in fine form – not as fine as last year – he was able to get up this morning for church.  He does keep us entertained. 🙂

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December 9, 2009 · 12:37 pm

Things a Grandmother should not have to do

Among other things – sedate and do dental work on a grandchild.  He  did not like it at all.  He drank the juice fine but from the time we got him to the dental chair and started the work it was downhill.  We had to hold him down and then the cavity was deep enough to need a nerve treatment.  So much for a small and easy job.

One more of those sessions to go.

When he came to the office this morning he asked his mom why he couldn’t visit Grandma at her house rather than her office.

I guess I will survive.  As long as he forgets the fight to get the work done and as long as he still likes coming to my house.

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November 27, 2009 · 6:53 pm

Seeming endless

Today was one of those days that just seemed to have no clear starting point.  Yesterday went on late into the night as I drove back from Saskatoon and the endodontic course, arriving back at my house around midnight, some 18 hours after my morning alarm woke me to start the day.

Then, tired but still alert from coffee on the road, I finally was settling into sleep when Leo’s phone rang.  He is on call but of course did not hear the phone – I did.  Back to sleep again.  At least I think I had fallen asleep when the phone rang again – 2:30 am.  This time it is the security people that monitor my office. Dragged myself out to check the office out.  It was fine and I was back into bed within half an hour.  But I was not asleep again – that took a lot longer. 

I had the sense to set the wake up time on the alarm back a couple of hours and didn’t wake till it rang at 7. 

Today was a very busy day at the school dental program.  I saw 40 kids and stayed alert enough to do that, have an interview at noon and participate in a staff meeting after school ended. 

But now my eyes feel like lead and I doubt that I will do anything productive.  So I shall try and sleep – till my kids and grandkids arrive from Saskatoon around 8. 

Tomorrow is another day.  Less demanding I hope.

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November 21, 2009 · 5:12 pm

Wonder-full.

I spent part of this weekend doing dental things – a trade show where I succumbed to the temptation to purchase a air/electric highspeed handpiece that has the ability to maintain an even torque.  Now that might not mean much to most of you but it means my drill won’t stall out when the going gets tough.  Also picked up some stuff to help motivate young people with braces to brush better through self assessment of their oral health status – in other words are their teeth covered with yuck or not. 

Then we interviewed a person since we need a second hygienist and ate lunch at Earls.  The salad I had was delicious.

But the best part of the weekend so far was eating pancakes and bacon prepared by my son and eaten with his family and shopping with David, Annette and kids.  It is hard to find truly meaningful gifts for the kids and grandkids.  They do not need more junk.  Neither do I.

But then we stopped at the World Vision Kiosk and my son’s family signed up to support a child from the Congo, finding a boy about the same age as Kieran so they would be able to write to each other.  Kieran thought he would like to give some of his chore money towards supporting him.  That is one of the best gifts they have given me and they are probably not even aware that it blessed me so much to be there as they chose to do that. And one little boy and his village will be blessed and perhaps will understand some of the wonder of love offered across the huge span of distance that separates them; the wonder of what Christ really came to set in motion at Christmas.

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October 9, 2009 · 8:33 pm

Thanksgiving

There are many things to be thankful for – a long week of work is done for one thing. 

Today I was working in the operating room – just regular dental work on sort of irregular people I guess.  From a tiny little girl of 17 months to a mentally challenged adult.  It is hard to really know how long I did today will last.  There are a lot of if’s that could make things go well – or not- such as, if brushing happens, if weaning is done from the bottle, if the FAS child gets care from a parent with enough energy to instil consistent habits.  So, time will tell.

And then, back at the office and a patient comes in with some pain that is hard to diagnose.  But she trusts me so she comes and we talk and hope that we can get it sorted out and treated.  Without it costing her more than she can afford.  I can’t do magic of course but I can take some time and talk and let the patient know that I will do the best I can to figure out what is causing their pain. 

Sometimes cost is such a limiting factor in treatment.  Not that all available treatments and marvellous technology inevitably leads to better health but not having the necessary money for simple treatments sure is a serious limitation.  And I have to discern my role in this; what is wise to carry myself and what I need allow the patient to take responsibility for.

So, that was mostly how my day went. Work plus an appointment later with my spiritual director.  Something between us seemed to connect well today.  It seemed as if God was there providing some wisdom that I needed to hear. 

All this caused me to get home rather late tonight.  I was wondering what on earth to fix for supper when Christian came in and said that Leo had called and was socializing with some of our friends down at one of the bars and to call him.  Went for wine and wings and nachos.  As good as supper for me.  Good times with good friends are something to be thankful for as well.

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September 26, 2009 · 2:34 pm

So this is Saturday

I have just returned from a shopping trip to the mall with my daughter-in-law and my three grandchildren. 

Ahhh… the joys of shopping with children.   They were pretty good actually but I have gotten used to hunting around in shops at my leisure.  We spent time in the play area.  That’s not an area I usually visit. 

But  I did find a pair of dressy shoes that fit my wide, wide feet.  Now I’m set for the gala event I am attending this evening with the purpose of meeting up with a dental student I wll be mentoring over this coming year.  And I’ll get to visit with our past summer student and his wife as well as visit with Sara and her dental student boyfriend. 

Then I turn around and drive home – I think.  Unless it is just too late and I’m too tired.  My kids always seem to allow me to sleep over if I need to.

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September 21, 2009 · 2:19 pm

Wisdom teeth

Well, I think that as of today all my children have had their impacted wisdom teeth dealt with.  Most of them I have taken care of myself but Grace’s were way beyond what I wanted to tackle.  So the oral surgeon removed all four of them this morning and she is sleeping off the effects of some major sedatives in her sister’s apartment. 

Poor Sara.  She missed her first class today to help her sister out.  The procedure took a little longer than expected I guess. 

Grace is feeling no pain right now but I suspect that situation will have changed by the time I pick her up at Sara’s this evening. 

And since we had budgeted to pay for these and had them done as professional courtesy, we can put that cash to use in other ways.  (But don’t tell that to any of my kids or they will have plans for it immediately!)

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