Dear Dennis,

I really want to take a few minutes to relay to you a few thoughts I have as to my most recent experiences here in your office pertaining to the care of my teeth. In my mind, for the last 30+ years of being one of your patients I have always felt that I couldn’t possibly be in better hands than yours when it comes to dental care. You have always been professional, kind, gentle, thoughtful and caring.

Recently as you know, after I dropped the ball on staying current with my dental health, I came to you to address the issue since I had allowed my teeth to become a bit of a train wreck....and not because I wanted to as I mentioned to you when we spoke, but the reasons at this point have no bearing on what I want to convey to you here at this moment.

When all was said and done you as usual showed patience and laid out a plan of attack to correct the issue...like I said you always instill confidence and set my mind at ease. Even after all these years I still suffer from “dentist chair” anxiety which is created in my own mind and not by anything you’ve ever done...it’s a phobia all of my own making and you always prove I have no reason to think this way. So when you said to me when is your next day off so we can schedule the work to be done and I said tomorrow your reply was “I’m not here tomorrow but Sandy is”. In my desire to act quickly I naively asked is Sandy as kind and gentle as you are and you replied “he’s better”. Honestly, I took you for your word since you’ve always been truthful with me and I had no concerns since I totally believed you...even if I thought how can he be better than Dennis?

Even though this took a few paragraphs I’ve finally arrived at the gist of this letter.

My experience with Sandy was top notch. Sandy’s professional manner, his openness, his obviously well honed medical abilities, his communication skills and his sense of humor all served to put me at ease. I believe he learned his profession well and that he is serious about what he does as a doctor and as a valued member of your team and these are just a few traits of what makes him who he is. There were other aspects of his personality that came through which all added to help relax me, show that he cared and was focused on the patient in his dental chair.

Like his father he would speak to me while working in order to keep communicating what was going on. “This will sting a bit, just a little longer, you know the drill, how are you doing Dave”....if I didn’t already know it was Sandy, it could have just as easily been you Dennis. My take on this is that while Sandy learned his art form at dental school well I’m sure there were most likely tips/pointers and experiences he may well have learned from his father that again all added up to making me feel as comfortable as possible.

In short, in its simplest form this is a fan letter for both father and son but it is a bit son centric. I know the pleasure of being able to be proud of my daughters and the kind of love and pride it creates in a parent. As a father dear Dennis you have got to be enormously proud of your son for the type of man he is.... as a businessman you must also feel pride that you have such professional talent which surely is a welcomed addition to the business you created with your own sweat and talents over the years. As a patient of yours I couldn’t be happier knowing that whether it’s father or son, I’ll always be in good hands....thank you.