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Ellie Phillips DDS
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What horror happened at a children’s clinic in England that forever changed my life?
For millions of people, going to the dentist is a major source of
stress and anxiety. Given the history of dentistry, and the fact
that most people feel they have no control over dental problems,
their fears are hardly a surprise. When I was growing up in England,
it was not unusual to hear parents threaten to take a misbehaving
child to the dentist as punishment. Those who have had negative
dental experiences as children are often patients who experience the
worst anxiety as adults. Ironically, in my case, the name of our
school dentist was Dr. Dagger!
Dental health for children was never a priority in England when I
was growing up, and tooth extraction was considered a quick and easy
solution for most dental problems. Things were actually so bad that
dentures were given to some young people as wedding gifts, the idea
being that extractions at an early age could ward off a lifetime of
pain, problems, and expense.
My first job in England was as a community dentist in a school
clinic in the early 1970s. The clinic was a large room with one
dental chair in the center. After greeting the office staff on my
first day, I opened the door to welcome my first patient. A
thirty-foot bench extended from the doorway to the end of the hall,
and it was filled with at least twenty small children waiting to
have their teeth extracted. Strained little faces looked at me with
round, moist eyes. Mothers resigned to the inevitable sat beside
their children with an air of compassionate authority.
That was the era when adults believed that children should be seen
and not heard. Children were expected to sit quietly and handle
whatever came their way. They were expected to undergo drillings or
tooth extraction without complaining or crying—and, often, without
an anesthetic. When the treatment was over, they were required to
politely shake hands and thank the doctor and the office staff. One
by one the children silently came over to me. I was expected to
extract their teeth according to the treatment plan I had been
given. My head was spinning. I didn’t know whether to carry out the
dreadful treatment or to send them away. I did what I was expected
to do, but I vowed from that day forward that by whatever means I
could, I would help children everywhere enjoy healthy teeth and
avoid cavities, fillings, and unnecessary extractions. |
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