It has been my experience that truly excellent caregivers, which are the only people you will find in our office, can be very hard to find. I am very blessed to have 3 staff members who are each impressive in their respective jobs, primarily for their dedication to our office and to each patient who walks in the door. Corinne, our very gentle hygienist, has been with us for 2 years and has already distinguished herself as being our patient’s favorite hygienist of all time. She is pregnant with her first child and is due in August- I’ll have more to say about her in the upcoming months. Cindy, our very personable receptionist, has been with us for almost 3 years; she consistently greets each day with a smile and literally radiates sunshine.
But it is our dental assistant, Edie, who has been with me for the longest period of time. In fact today, she celebrates her 24th anniversary with our office and I couldn’t be more proud and honored that she has made the journey with us for all these years. Now I don’t want to give away too much unauthorized information but let’s just say that she was 24 years old, a mere child, when she started with me in the old office, back on Park Heights Avenue. She was newly married, came to us after employment at a bank and knew nothing about teeth- except that she had some!
Well 24 years later Edie has become the heart and soul of the office. It is no exaggeration to say that many patients look for her smiling face way before they want to get in the chair or talk to me at all. This is due, in large part, to her gift of putting people at ease and making any unpleasant experience a little bit better. Whether it is a quick rub of the shoulder during a Lidocaine shot or simply remembering the most minute details of your spouse and/or kids she has a knack for putting everyone at ease. I have even had patients tell me that if she ever leaves, they’re leaving too- I personally think they go too far with that sentiment but…..
What is even more amazing about our Edie is that she commutes from Gettysburg, PA every day- an almost 2 hour car drive each way. If you ask her, she will tell you that it is the most relaxing part of her day- probably having something to do with raising 3 kids and 7 horses. I always kid that she has 3 full time jobs- mother of 3, running a horse farm and , oh yeah, assisting at a high level dental office. Any one of these jobs would be enough to send other people screaming for the hills, but Edie takes it all in stride and never complains about all the chores that lay in fornt of her—- well, almost never!
So it is with extreme pride and genuine appreciation that I shout out a hearty “THANK YOU” to the best dental assistant that I have ever known and the best friend that our office has ever enjoyed. It has been a lot of fun to see her progress from a 24 year old girl to an accomplished professional woman. If you see her in the office over the next few weeks, make sure and congratulate her for a job well done. And if you are at Tio Pepe’s this afternoon, you will see Cindy, Corinne and myself raising a glass of sangria to her health and future in our office. I look forward to the next 24 years!!
