Who needs laughing gas!

Time to visit the dentist. 

Those words used to strike fear in my heart. I could feel the remembered pain from childhood dental experiences.

Visiting Dr. Holly Ellis, DDS and her team is always such a positive experience. Dr. Ellis is personable and fun and makes her patients feel at ease. 

I gave her a copy of my Chicken Soup for the Soul, Too Funny book. Her staff looks forward to reading a story here and there during their workday or at lunch. This one will have them showing THEIR pearly whites.

I was in the chair when Dr. Ellis walked in and asked me about my eyes. I wondered which of us was more confused. Then it dawned on me. She had read my story. We both had a good laugh.

My hygeniest, who I have known for many years, mentioned she was going to eat a light lunch. I told her she didn't need to worry about dieting. "You are so petite."

Denise said, "Yes I am. My brother is big; he got it all, the height, the weight, even the boobs."

Never laugh when you have a rinse device in your mouth.  

Visiting my dentist is like reuniting with girlfriends. We always pick up right where we left off. 

Ellis Dental
10296 Big Bend Rd.
Suite 207
St. Louis, MO 63122
314-965-1334

A couple of reasons to SMILE

My greatest thrill this week has been receiving an award-winning acceptance from Metro Arts in Transit.

My poem, Family Reunion, will be riding the rails in 2018. It will be posted on Metro Link trains or Metro buses, along with other local writers' poetry.

Perhaps my words will convince someone else to try their hand at writing a poem. Many people shy away from poetry for various reasons. I hope this demonstrates how simple it can be to connect with the reader through plain speak and imagery. Not all poems are indecipherable or ambiguous. I can't wait to share it with you, soon.


Another honor! My wonderful dentist, Holly Ellis, said she enjoyed reading my previous blog post about the killer dentists I have known, and she wants to post it on her website.

She and her staff are  remarkable. They are intuned to the patient's every need, and connect on a personal as well as professional level. I feel as though I am visiting old friends when I go for my appointments. If you are looking for a new dentist, this state of the art dental practice is for you. She's located in Crestwood, MO.

Link to my KILLER DENTISTS post.

Killer dentists I have known

When I was a kid we visited dentists and doctors only when we needed attention; there were no well visits or preventive checkups. Often dentists and doctors operated drop-in businesses out of store fronts. Some dentists even offered extractions "with" or "without numbing agents."

The first visit I can remember was when I was a freshman in high school. I walked five blocks to a neighborhood dentist because I had a toothache. Oh my gosh! It hurt unbearably. I probably didn't have the extra dollar for the Novocane. That OLD guy nearly killed me.

Next dentist visit was when I was 17. I unwrapped the yellow paper wrapper and foil off a stick of Juicy Fruit gum, slid it into my mouth, and screamed in pain when I bit down. I walked to a different dentist, a few blocks from home. He was probably in his forties. Nothing unusual about him. Soft-bodied, round-faced guy. Two rooms, separated by a floor to ceiling curtain. After he yanked my tooth, he asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you?" I shook my head. He prodded. "You in any kind of trouble? I can take care of that, too in the back room."

I mumbled, "No."

He looked into my eyes, and asked, "You sure?"

I wasn't even sure what he meant until years later...when I discovered my dentist, who had been married at least three times, was a father. Glennon Engleman died in prison, a convicted sociopath and murderer. This guy was a serial killer.

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He believed his one true talent was killing people by various techniques: gunshot, bombing, bludgeoning... and having absolutely NO REMORSE. He murdered for insurance money, and because he was bat shit crazy. 

My girlfriend went to him and was in the chair numbing when there was a knock on the back door. He left the room. A loud, threatening shouting match ensued with a male about an unpaid murder-for-hire debt.

My next dental exam was in Alaska when my ex husband was in the army, and I was pregnant with our first baby. The dentist said I had an abscessed tooth, but he was hesitant to treat me, because the military base had no X-ray equipment, and also a shortage of antibiotics. IMAGINE THAT! He said extracting it could kill me. But after much pleading, he yanked another one of my molars. My face bruised and swelled as a result of his twisting and tugging.

I was scheduled for my OB appointment later the same day. The nurse was aghast when she saw me and questioned me as if I were an abused woman. I'm not sure I ever convinced her one of her colleagues did the damage.

Upon our return home, I began regular dental visits, most of them routine and uneventful with Dan Patrick O'Brien, DDS. After twenty years of being his patient, he sent his patients a killer letter. "Mary and I have decided to retire and move to Colorado. We are leaving tomorrow... "

Another memorable visit happened about twenty years ago. Young male dentist. Steve Branham, DDS, married man, with photos of his three children and beautiful wife posted all over his new office. He examined me and then broke the news: my bridge (which had originally replaced lost molars) was broken and needed to be replaced. When he said, "$1,500, I cried. He asked what was wrong. 

"I'm falling apart: head, shoulders, belly, knees and toes."  Poor young man didn't know how to handle me, so he sent in his receptionist. It about killed me to hand over our vacation money to him so he could take a nice vacation that year. He sold his practice and we both moved on.

I am scheduled for my dental check up soon with my young, #1 dentist in St. Louis, MO

Dr. Holly Ellis and her team. They are a supportive, fun and friendly group of professionals. 

They kill me with kindness and laughter.