Until recently, you couldn’t say the word dentist around Sharon Williams. The word made her tremble in fear.
Originally from St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean Sea, Sharon was afraid of the dentist and desperately needed care.
“That had me sick for months at the time, because it damaged the nerve on the left side of my face,” she says.
Sharon’s fear came from a dental procedure in 1990 when she had a tooth extraction without proper numbing. She felt every minute of the procedure, including the excruciating pain of the tooth being pulled from her mouth! Sadly, what was supposed to be a routine procedure scarred her for life.
“Joanna has been a godsend to me,” says Sharon. “She is so good to me that I will wait longer for an appointment in order to see her.”
Years later, Sharon was still scared to see a dentist, but she knew she needed care. She found Church Health and met Joanna, her dental hygienist. Through building trust with Joanna, Sharon’s fear of the dentist subsided.
Though Sharon still has panic attacks when she hears the word dentist, Joanna puts her at ease and treats her like Sharon is her only patient. The connection they have is one of trust and understanding—two qualities we strive for at Church Health. Over time, Sharon is opening up to the rest of the dental team, but there’s still no one she’d rather see than Joanna.
“She is so nurturing and relaxes me as if she was my mother. She is just super loving, compassionate and kind.”
Your gifts bring safety and security to the patients we serve on a daily basis. Sharon is grateful—and so are we.
