I don t typically engage in reviews or yelp, quite...

I don t typically engage in reviews or yelp, quite frankly because I m never motivated enough with an experience to actually go and perform the act of writing something-it reminds me of homework. However, based on my overall satisfaction with my experience at South Boston Family dental and the overriding widespread social anxiety that people have with going to the dentist, I felt compelled to pay tribute to my dental experience. Leading up to booking an appointment with dentist, I was riddled with fear as it had been four years since my last formal cleaning or dental interaction. I think fear of the unknown eats away at you and you almost would rather just not know how bad your dental health has gotten. Secondly, the fact that dental insurance is not a mandatory benefit for health insurance coverage creates this false conception that dental hygiene must not be as important as other health related endeavors; dental hygiene almost gets framed as merely a cosmetic issue. Still, I think deep down, we all know that going to the dentist is absolutely critical to our overall health and that avoidance of the dentist only contributes to what can end up being an exponentially worse problem. In other words, the longer we avoid the dentist, the higher our risk is for serious health concerns and very invasive dental work.

After finally mustering up the courage to book an appointment, I kept talking to friends and building upon my anxiety as people would report back horror stories they had or implicitly shame me by saying they get a cleaning every 6 months. I walked into South Boston Family dental as a grown man, but inside I felt like a toddler going to school for the first time away from the comfort of his mom and family. Nevertheless, I was immediately greeted by several young ladies who were extremely polite and inviting and greeted me by name. I joked back and forth with one of the hygienists, Sarah, so the short waiting time for my appointment virtually vanished. We all know what it s like to walk into any service industry and be treated like a number. Furthermore, the office is conveniently located in South Boston, completely walking distance from really anywhere in Southie and the overall aesthetic of the facility was not clinical-instead it was homey and warm.

My dental hygienist, Sarah, couldn t have been more down to earth and was so easy to talk to that I quickly forgot that I was even getting the full gamut of x-rays and cavity inspections. The hygienist was gentle, efficient, and so polite that whole time always asking if I needed a break. After the cleaning, the dentist came in and was also very personable, in which we bantered about Southie politics and new restaurants before he did his final inspection. I really did forget that I was at a dentist s office for most of the time I was at South Boston Family Dental. It sounds crazy, but I actually look forward to going back for my cleaning in some ways because I loved the social aspect of my experience. It might sound trite, but I can see why this organization is called South Boston Family Dental-it truly is a place that treats their patients as friends rather than impersonal clients.