Most Fabulous Dentist Ever-- Part 2

The fabulous dentist strikes again... I had to go in today, got a same day appointment, and once again, could not believe how amazing my dentist is... really and truly the very best one on the planet.

Going to Dr. Gaines is much more than your average visit to the dentist... it is really

and truly a
deep soul healing experience.... (yes, he is that amazing.)

I am teaching the first day of a university summer class tomorrow, and had a dental problem, ugh, at a dinner party this weekend. For the last few days I was worried about having to go in and teach with a missing tooth in a prominent place.

He took care of it. He asked if I wanted to send my issue to the lab, but that wouldn't work for me today because I needed my full smile for tomorrow. (Thanks, gene lottery... need dental implants... yikes.) He stayed later today to help me take care of it so he could send me out of the office, ready to teach with a full smile tomorrow. He knew it was about much more than just a tooth. It was about confidence and making a best first professional impression and peace of mind and heart.

Instead of just a quick fix, he said, "You know what, I'm going to take care of this. I'm going to make it even better than new." He clicked into full...
Dr. Gaines-dental-miracle-working-mode and I knew life was about
to get a lot better.

He had multiple root canals going on in there today, and everyone was THANKING him as they left. People came in to the office without appointments to just thank him for what he had done recently, and left, telling the group in the office how they had such a great boss.

I was texting my husband to keep track of all the funny things he said while I was in there, one of which was that he has been moonwalking all over the place at home because of all the MJ videos. When he gave a patient a painkiller prescription, he said, "Be careful, don't let anyone else get to these, don't let your pet take them, don't let anyone break into your car, believe me, I've heard them all...when someone said his car was broken into, I had to say, well,

where is the police report?"

Earlier I heard him advising a patient, "Well tell them if they try to pull something like that, I will kick their ass..."

He and his assistant, Ilyana, have been working together for 30 years. Every time I'm there they banter and laugh like
they are having a party

while they work on you. Today she said her husband said that every time he has been in the office, he has heard them laughing back there... not one visit to the front without hearing Dr. Gaines and Ilyana laughing in the back. Today she told me that when she was pregnant and had her baby, he gave her a one year maternity leave, paid.

When he fixed things up for one patient, he told her, "You won't believe it; you are going to gain twenty years psychologically,

you will feel so much better. You just got used to the pain, and now it will be gone... you were run down because you just got used to it... You will be amazed how much better you will feel." And you could tell she already did. Patients were calling him "kid" and "sweetheart."

We need more amazing human beings like him! Do you know any truly amazing human beings? I hope so, and do tell. I like sharing the good stuff!

My Dentist's *LOVE* advice

In Coconut Grove, Florida, a very special dentist runs a very special practice.

Dr. Gaines has been known to break into song, for example, while he is finishing up your tooth, you might hear, "We are living, in a Material, a Material, World..."

He has pictures of his tigers that he used to keep as pets and that he used to bring in to the office when it was allowable. Now he just has cats... I think.

While waiting in one of the treatment rooms Friday, I overheard him say to another patient, "Well, that is his fucking loss!!!" and, "What do you know about this ho?" and "Well, let's get your resume over to..." "You know what, he did you a favor. He freed you up for a better life!" "I know it hurts to hear this right now, but he did you a favor." (he tells me later the schmuck left his wife after 11 years on her birthday...my favorite part is that he told her, "you are freed up for a better life." He said, "she can do anything she wants to now... she could go to school, be a pilot...anything she wants....)

Once when I went in, after doing a good bout of yoga, he said, "You look great, what have you been doing?" "Yoga, and paying attention to myself," I said. "Well, good, you have to do that before they put you in the ground," he said.

This is a dentist with some major personality, as you can see, and even more heart.

Oh, and he does great dental work, and often doesn't charge me for little fixes.

Sometimes a whole waiting room is sitting there, and we are thinking he is back there working on someone, and the door will open dramatically, and in he comes, with his sunglasses, a bemused look, as if surprised he is a dentist, and surprised this is where he works, and his gym backpack, and don't forget his cowboy (?) boots. We just smile. We love him. He makes us all happy. That is all there is to it.