Long Overdue

One of my denture patients trying to slap me

WARNING: This post may cause severe drowsiness and contains dentite language.
I've been meaning to write about my job and how exciting it has been to work as a real life dentist. I wish I would have written this back in July when it was all so fresh and new, but here goes.
After coming off a three week vacation in Utah I was pretty anxious to work and feel like I served a purpose on this planet other than putting miles on a mountain bike. Due to a miscommunication with my office I showed up to work an hour late on my first day (July 7th), not even knowing if I was going to have patients that day or just have orientation. So I show up, they tell me I have a patient already in the chair for a root canal. So I met my assistant and I sat down and did my first root canal in ten months (or rather my assistant and the other dentist in the office talked me through the root canal since I had never used this rotary system before, which by the way is a total cinch compared to the system we used in school). The day went on with me getting called off to other rooms for extractions, fillings, impressions and even a crown prep. Half way through most procedures an assistant would summon me to anesthetize a patient in the next room so that they would be numb by the time I finished the current procedure. It was craziness. This was one of the fastest days of my life. And I loved it.
I've been thinking about why I have loved these first couple of months of work so much and here is what I have come up with:
First, I love the speed of real life dentistry. To go from seeing two patients a day to seeing up to twenty is craziness, but it's like I can feel all the built up red tape frustration from school evaporating out of my pores. It's such a relief to know that dentistry can actually be done at a speed that doesn't drive patients crazy and that can keep an office in the black.
Second reason I love it: Autonomy. When you run into a problem and a tough decision has to be made it's scary because I'm so used to getting multiple consults from instructors. But I love just making a decision and going for it without having to ask an instructor. I have learned that I can live with the consequences. I feel like all the scrutiny and minutia of dental school (though it may not be necessary for most procedures) prepares us for the tough decisions. I feel prepared. And I love making my own decisions.
Last reason I love it: Patients love quick dentistry. Patients are so grateful when they can check into the office with a toothache and walk out the door in under an hour leaving their bombed out tooth at the bottom of a biohazard bag. I'm sure the patients at school were grateful, but their gratitude was buried under the frustration of having to wait around for six hours. (I don't mean this to be a dental school bashing post, I think most of the things I hated about dental school were necessary to prepare us and thank heavens that some patients have the patience for dental schools.) So anyway, I have enjoyed how many of my patients have thanked me for what I do.

I have heard many weathered old dentists say that their worst day in practice was better than their best day in dental school. Next chance I get to talk to a dental student, I'm going to use my crotchetyest old voice and I'm going to pass on the cliche. I feel very lucky that I stumbled upon a profession that I enjoy. I feel like I'm filling a need if you'll pardon the pun. I'd rather go to work than always be on vacation.