{"id":765,"date":"2022-10-25T23:55:26","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T23:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/?p=765"},"modified":"2022-11-02T00:12:14","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T00:12:14","slug":"a-million-dollar-smile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/?p=765","title":{"rendered":"A Million Dollar Smile"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tuesday, October 25, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you fear most about going to the dentist?\u201d This was the first question a young, energetic dentist asked me on my very first visit to his office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe shots,\u201d was my immediate reply. The shots are necessary when work on a tooth is needing to be done. Well, perhaps there are some people who can tolerate the dentist working on a tooth without Novocain, but I am not one of those people. Actually, my greatest fear is them hitting a nerve that hasn\u2019t been deadened. This has happened before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNo problem,\u201d was the dentist\u2019s response. \u201cYou won\u2019t feel a thing!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I left his office totally traumatized. He ended up being the worst dentist I had ever gone to. Every single shot he gave made we long for unconsciousness. If he was this bad with the Novocain, how would he be with repairing the tooth? Absolutely nothing would entice me to go back to him again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I avoid the dentist like the plague, which is easy to do not having dental insurance. My last visit was in Hawaii, where all my root canals had to be extracted. They were causing my other, perfectly good teeth, to crumble. A reoccurring dream of mine for many years was that my teeth, for no reason, would start falling out of my mouth like dominos. I would wake up feeling like I had a mouth full of loose teeth. It was freaky. Now, it was as if my dream was, in a way, coming true. Those root canals had to come out before I did lose all my teeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The dentist in Hawaii was not only really good, he was gentle with the shots. Though I had to have many, I rarely felt the prick of his anesthetic needle. In three visits, he removed all those difficult root canals and fitted me for an upper partial. One lonely, little root canal was left. It was one of my lower front teeth, so I decided to leave it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was seven years ago. Just over two weeks ago, that little tooth became so infected and painful, a dentist was necessary. I immediately began using an antibiotic blend of essential oils and called mom and dad Dekle\u2019s dentist, praying they would take a new patient. Many aren\u2019t these days. The appointment was set for a week later, which was fine. It would give the oils a chance to decrease the infection before arriving at the dentist office. By the time I was checked out by him, the infection had greatly decreased, but not totally. It would be better, all around, if the infection was pretty much cleared up, so he suggested waiting to pull the tooth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI see that your oils have greatly helped clear the infection, but I could prescribe you an antibiotic to help,\u201d He suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019d rather not,\u201d was my reply. I explained to him how the oils had helped perfectly when all my other root canals were pulled. I would rather trust them, since they have proven themselves, than chemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo problem,\u201d was his response. He could already tell they had worked wonders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week later I was back in his office, ready for the last root canal to be pulled. Would you believe, not only was this dentist a very caring, interactive dentist, but also very gentle with the shots. I hardly felt a thing! Moreover, it took more time for my mouth to numb than to pull the tooth. I was in and out of his office in less than a half hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deed is done. The bad is gone. Why had I delayed seven years? Partly it was out of pride. A dear friend during my time at Prairie Bible Institute as Public Relations secretary, told me, upon our first meeting, that I had a million dollar smile and needed to use it as much as possible.\u201d Though that man has since passed into glory, I have never forgotten his words. It\u2019s amazing how a simple smile can be an encouragement to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, what does pride have to do with it? For a long time, I felt pulling that tooth, right smack in front, would damage my smile. I have since learned, teeth have nothing to do with it. It all has to do with genuineness and inner beauty. Many are so concerned about having that \u201cperfect\u201d smile and some actually spend thousands of dollars to get it, but in vain. If the inner beauty, which comes from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ personally, is there, no one will care about a few missing teeth!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Furthermore, His presence in our lives should show in our countenance no matter what the circumstances. Psalm 43:5 asks, \u201cWhy are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> During the difficult times remember He is our hope! More and more people need to see that we have hope. Even a smile while walking along the street can cheer a troubled heart. I know. I have seen people lite up by a simple, joyous smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My prayer is that people will see my precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, in my smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blessings, Mari<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, October 25, 2022 \u201cWhat do you fear most about going to the dentist?\u201d This was the first question a young, energetic dentist asked me on my very first visit to his office. \u201cThe shots,\u201d was my immediate reply. The shots are necessary when work on a tooth is needing to be done. Well, perhaps… Continue reading A Million Dollar Smile<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=765"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions\/777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}