A few weeks ago, my husband and I browsed around in several antique shops. It’s always fun to see what’s lurking on the shelves. On this particular trip we happened on an entire room dedicated to medicine. There were books, old glass bottles, boxes and jars, instrument cabinets, models of skulls and bones, and even a dental chair from 1800s. Peeking out from the corner of a shelf was a set of dental study models with a price tag of $65.00. My purse was vibrating, wallet in hand. Although the dental nerd inside of me really wanted to purchase the models, I held back. I’m working on less is more right now and adding to the dental collection I already have, honestly, this whimsical item was not necessary. The word for this day: discipline.
I began laughing and shared this story from long ago with my husband:
I received a gift from a family member back in the 70’s. It was a very thoughtful gift.
This person took time in the selection of the items and consulted for a while with the seller. They went to great lengths to have the items framed in a beautiful walnut shadow box. Going the extra mile to select gorgeous red velvet fabric for the backdrop. When I was handed the beautifully wrapped gift, the weight made me curious. You can imaging their surprise and the blank stare I gave, when I opened the gift, which was several dental forceps, mounted for display. They were the kind that fit so naturally in my hand at work. “We use these every day in my office!,” I said. Not the right choice of words at this moment, but I could not hold back; the words came rolling off my tongue just as natural as if I was standing chair side assisting and my boss asked me for a 2X2, elevator and a cow horn. “I bought these at an antique store for you, I was told they were antiques, I thought they were old. These aren’t old? You actually still use these instruments today? For real?” I walked over and with a long lingering hug, explained that in dentistry some things old are still new. You can imagine the comments I received from my co-workers when I proudly hung the old forceps in my office that looked like the new ones in the operatory!
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