Empathetic endodontist
Vertical tooth fracture – ever heard of it? At least I hadn’t until my dentist called in to confirm my X-ray results last week. I had an appointment to meet her the following day and discuss the next steps. Googling my way through only got me more confused if not too worried. I knew my anxiety would have to wait another 20 odd hours for a better understanding.
“I am sorry Vasanth, it doesn’t look like I can save the tooth. We have to extract it”, my dentist said with a genuine & caring expression. She had to bring in an endodontist to get the extraction done as it appeared a bit complicated. It was one of the molars way inside and I thought it wouldn’t matter much. However, it can get a bit nervous sitting outside waiting for your turn to get the tooth removed. You have very little choice and a local anesthesia on the gum is imperative. A little chat with the enterprising endodontist calmed my nerves and then before the procedure began he said, “It might pain a little but I will try to make it as less painful as it can be”. And, yes it was not that bad at all.
If we look at the words used by my dentist and endodontist, it was comforting as there was a clear understanding of my pain. Just imagine if I was told “It’s nothing..don’t worry”.
“EE”, I mean enterprising and empathy are great qualities for anyone particularly in customer service. Though people tend to relate “putting yourself in anther’s shoes” as empathy, I am not surprised when it gets similar to the story below in real life:
A man walked into a police station and said, “I have three big brothers and all of us live in one big room. My eldest brother has 10 cats, the second one has 5 dogs and third has 2 sheep’s. I want you to do something about the smell.”. The Inspector asked him, “Are there windows in your room?” The man replied, “Yes, there are 4 big windows.” The Inspector asked, “Why don’t you open the windows?”. The man said, “If I do that all my 500 pigeons will fly away”.
If we look at the words used by my dentist and endodontist, it was comforting as there was a clear understanding of my pain. Just imagine if I was told “It’s nothing..don’t worry”.
“EE”, I mean enterprising and empathy are great qualities for anyone particularly in customer service. Though people tend to relate “putting yourself in anther’s shoes” as empathy, I am not surprised when it gets similar to the story below in real life:
A man walked into a police station and said, “I have three big brothers and all of us live in one big room. My eldest brother has 10 cats, the second one has 5 dogs and third has 2 sheep’s. I want you to do something about the smell.”. The Inspector asked him, “Are there windows in your room?” The man replied, “Yes, there are 4 big windows.” The Inspector asked, “Why don’t you open the windows?”. The man said, “If I do that all my 500 pigeons will fly away”.
