I have a confession to make *takes deep breath*
I have favourite patients.
There, I said it. I don't mean in a Bruce Forsyth "You're my favourite" sort of way. I mean that I have patients I really love to treat. It's a bit like being a parent, you're not supposed to have favourite children, you're supposed to love them all equally. But sometimes you can't help preferring some more than others. (I have two children, who, usually, I wouldn't pick between, but occasionally I like one more!).
Perhaps I should point out that in terms of clinical treatment I try really hard to give everybody the same care. I do pride myself on my clinical results and really try to get the best result for everybody I treat. I know that my team are also very professional and will be consistent with our work procedures.
However, there are some patients I look forward to seeing, and often I find we spend longer chatting than we do treating. Seeing patients regularly, about every 7 or 8 weeks means I can really get to know them. We discuss things like Christmas, holidays and school exams, weddings, babies and school proms, triathlons, marathons and climbing, illness, travel and traffic jams, and even random things like bra sizes!
I was genuinely pleased to review a past patient yesterday who excitedly showed us her new engagement ring. I spent five minutes chatting about unwanted christmas presents with another. I was sad to say goodbye after a long but successful treatment to an incredibly nervous lady who had just adopted a child. I finished treatment for a lovely teen last week who brought me the homemade cake in the picture above (it was delicious!).
Now, if you're thinking about this you might have realised that I also have less favourite patients. I suppose there are a few, usually it's the ones who repeatedly break the braces and my heart sinks a little when I see their name in the diary! But there aren't very many, they still get treated (and a stern talking-to if their brushing remains poor or breakages are frequent), and there's always the next person to look forward to.
People often say to me "I don't know how you can look at teeth all day!" I do believe that the thing that makes dentistry interesting is the patients, not the teeth. Yes, there are interesting or challenging cases, but making the job interesting is more about engaging with my patients. To use a very worn cliche, it's about treating people, not patients.
