All in the family?


My uncle, Isaih Lew,  was a dentist of some renown. He was my first dentist and he took care of any of our family who cared to visit. My mother never paid any bills and he kept seeing me, even though  I cried loudly while he worked on my teeth.

He was a role model and when I went to dental school he told the admissions officer that he planned to take me into his practice after I graduated. When I finished dental school he took me aside and told me that I was taking over our "family's practice" and I would be treating my aunts and uncles, since he was retiring. His lucrative practice would remain with his partners, but out famiy's future dental care would become my responsibility

Sometime later, my mother took me aside before she passed away and made me promise to look out for my brother and his family. Now I should add that I felt honored after both of these requests, since being trusted by those we love is one of the real rewards in life. More than fame or fortune, being trusted is what I and many others crave. Money is nice but without the other two having it is a hollow victory.

Over the years the practice of dentistry has changed a ot as evidenced by our better understanding of preventing dental problems, digital dentistry, improved sterility and use of expanded duty dental staff. Somethings still remain the same. Last Friday my son David finished his first year of dental school and in another four years ( three more years at the dental school and one year residency) and will hopefully have him join me in practice. I look forward to having "the talk" with him since he will be our family's third generation NYC dentist.




from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2019/06/all-in-family.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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