My Dentist and Pete Buttigieg

My alarm went off accidentally early this morning and with Morning Joe in the background I started reading emails and news clips that friends had sent overnight. One piece made me think about my dentist. — — I know — sounds strange — but just follow me and I bet you will get my point.

“My doctor is young, my plumber, and electrician. All the people that serve me are just kids, the age of my kids and I decided that it’s time to turn this country over to a young, intelligent articulate thoughtful person,” said Jim Coddington in the opening words of a piece from WKMT3 in Mason City, Iowa. Coddington is a caucus precinct captain for Pete Buttigieg.

These words explained in some ways exactly why I am with Pete Buttigieg.

I think our nation and the Democratic party need a new dentist.

Let me explain. About ten years ago after being reasonably happy with my dentist he suddenly retired at age 74 without advance notice. I had been seeing him at least twice a year for about 30 years. He had a partner so rather than look for a new practice, I went to see his partner for an appointment. His partner was 72 years old and after the first appointment, I thought to myself, “why am I doing this”. He was very nice, and probably a reasonable dentist, but I didn’t know him and so saw no reason to get invested with this guy realizing that he was going to retire soon, too, and then I would have been stuck all over again.

So, I started looking at reviews, talking to friends and set some parameters. The key factors in the search — find a dentist that would take our insurance and would be enough younger than me to be around well into the future so I wouldn’t have to do this search again.

The first time I went to see my choice, a few things struck me.

The old chairs and familiar wall paper were gone. The lighting was bright and the space was immaculate. I had transferred my records and noticed that no longer were my xrays clipped to a light for review — now they miraculously appeared on a large monitor with easy access. All my files had been downloaded and indexed. I didn’t have to move from room to room for different procedures because the equipment was now all new and designed with efficiency, Even making my next appointment was different, the new assistant didn’t pencil in a date in her book and hand me a card, she texted me an appointment invite for me to confirm.

But, what was most important was that my new Dentist practices with the latest equipment using the most up-to-date techniques and materials. He makes me feel extremely comfortable because I believe I am getting the best attention possible. When an old filling put in by my last dentist fails, he doesn’t tell me that the other dentist wasn’t competent, he explains how the new materials work better and last longer and there can usually be a less invasive procedure. He is fantastic really and hopefully will be my dentist as long as he continues to consistently keep up with all the latest recommendations and practices of his profession.

Actually, my dentist wasn’t my only health practitioner that retired. My long-time primary care physician retired, too and we found a practice where my new doctor, a graduate of a well regarded medical school is part of a talented team associated with one of the finest hospitals in the world. She has helped me resolve a decades long allergy problem with minimal over the counter medicine. Because losing my doctor and dentist weren’t enough, my Ob/Gyn of 40 years also in his 70’s scaled back dramatically to rare office hours so I switched to his much younger associate who put my preventive care testing at an entirely new level with ground-breaking screening when she realized my family history of breast cancer.

I love my new medical care team. They give me confidence.

This bring me to Pete Buttigieg, who said earlier this week, “ “We’ve got to reckon with the fact that the presidency is about to face issues and challenges just deeply different from anything that we’ve dealt with in the past.”

I want the confidence of knowing that the next administration would be more than going back to the familiar and the old ways of doing things. I want even better, I want the best. Of course I know that being a Dentist or Doctor is not the same as being President. But, think about it. We need to address the future with the smartest, most competent person who would look at issues with a new perspective. We need a President who would respect experience while understanding that there are new approaches to handing problems. We need a President with all the new tools and the know how to use them and as we are seeing every single day, it is time to look outside Washington and the same old debates.

Yep, our country needs a whole new care team.