Are you putting off an appointment?

Are you putting off an appointment?

Be kind to yourself and be proactive. It is, you will find, a much more enjoyable journey through life than the one you have been on.

by Dr. Nicholas Meyer — 

Many times during the course of a week, people enter our dental practice seeking a “quick fix.” They come in with excuses like, “Well, this is my busy time of the year, so it has been hard to make time to come in.”

At some point, we all find that we are the ones with little time. But the rest of the story often sounds like this: “A year ago, the troubled area was not hurting much, maybe a little, so I just did not do anything about the situation. The pain was not bad enough for me to schedule an appointment, but now I am suffering. And by the way, can you squeeze me in as soon as possible to give me relief?”

What are other areas in our lives in which similar situations crop up? Like an ostrich who buries his head in the sand, we often ignore a problem, hoping it goes away. But it rarely does.

Can we look at these misfortunes as opportunities to be patient with ourselves? We could be kinder to ourselves and recognize that a story is playing out yet again. The small nudges we experience always precede the bigger bumps.

So I ask you to be a patient patient. Look at those instances where life is trying to get your attention, usually through some sort of misfortune (such as a toothache), and take affirmative action. If your tooth hurts, take the time to make an appointment before it gets worse.

You already know how the movie ends if nothing is taken care of, so nurture yourself. Be kind to yourself and be proactive. It is, you will find, a much more enjoyable journey through life than the one you have been on.

Nicholas Meyer, D.D.S., D.N.M., is a general dentist in Scottsdale, Ariz., who has a special interest in developmental disturbances of the facial complex that contribute to such maladies as TMJ, snoring and sleep apnea. milldental.com, [email protected] or 480-948-0560.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 34, Number 2, April/May 2015.