Having fun at a dental office: meet Dr. Zoltek and her exemplary staff
Whoa – do not misinterpret – this is not fun derived from mindless run-throughs of Tik-Tok clips or Instagram inanities. To the contrary, this is extremely high quality dentistry delivered in an atmosphere of camaraderie that in my experience is unique in a dental practice.
An émigré from Poland, Dr. Z graduated first in her class at UMDNJ. She is a solo practitioner — if that is stereotypically construed as a high and mighty dentist barking out orders to assistants and dental hygienists, you again would be totally wrong. I have never seen such pleasant and productive interaction among staff and patients – there are more pleases and thank yous and smiles here than anywhere seen elsewhere in a normal day’s interaction in our unhappy society.
At the desk, Sheila greets you by name and you feel like you have entered into a positive environment; there is no portal, nothing technological to get in the way of you and the human providers of the service.
Rachel or Victoria takes you to the room where it will all happen, chats pleasantly (nothing forced), interestingly and intelligently with you and gets your ready for whatever procedure Dr. Z. is to perform.
Dr. Z. enters the operatory, hair sometimes askew — representing freedom in my view. Perhaps her agreement with my characterization reflected the fact that it took her ten years and an untold amount of paperwork to become a citizen. She is smiling and ready to go on a process, e.g. a filling or a crown or whatever is needed, any of which will involve multiple instruments and much back-and-forth with her highly capable assistant.
(OK, I admit it –there is part of your brain that does not let you forget that you are about to experience a bit of discomfort, more than a bit if you allow yourself to think excessively about that drill entering your stretched out mouth.)
Dr. Z. believes that the mouth is the gateway to multiple diseases. Before having surgery of any kind, she strongly recommends seeing Debbie, the office’s excellent dental hygienist, for a cleaning.
While your mouth is stretched open, you may hear Dr. Z. express her disdain for much of the medical establishment. If you agree, a thumbs up is in order and vice versa; your ability to be articulate nuance is rather hampered by everything that is going on in your mouth. The same messaging system is used to answer the question of whether pain is being inflicted, any pain from the procedure that is, not the agony which is relevant to any analysis of our screwed-up healthcare system.
As Dr. Z. examines her handiwork, at times it brings forth the image of a sculptor (and not an inexpensive one). You often hear her exclaim, “that’s beautiful” or “perfect.” For sure there is ego involved in such admiration, but her appraisal is not done in an egotistical manner.
On my most recent visit, a person departing the office said to Dr. Z., “I will follow you to the end of the earth.” Presumably he was not a stalker but a highly satisfied patient. Not a bad recommendation, easy to put in a radio spot, on a billboard, or bumper sticker or website. Well-deserved for sure!
Please note: this write-up was done by a human; there is nothing artificial about the intelligence expressed!