By the Luck of the Moon: A Rare 'Eclipse' Filling Delivers Big Smiles

PATIENT GETS ASTRONOMICAL COMFORT AND CARE
WITH THE HELP OF A RARE ‘ECLIPSE FILLING.’

Denise Foster gets a rare dental filling...just as the solar eclipse takes place.

It’s not often you get a chance to experience an eclipse—perhaps just once in a lifetime. So when the moment arrived for a solar eclipse at 10:20 a.m. on Monday, September 21, many One Community Health employees got a chance to step outside, put on their eclipse glasses, get their cameras out, and witness this astronomical event take place.

Yet in the dental department, Robin Piatt, DMD (above, right) had prepped for a patient, Denise Foster (pictured here, center and below) of The Dalles. In recent months, Denise made a proactive commitment to put greater focus on her health and wellbeing.

“I figured starting with my teeth made sense,” she said. “I’d neglected my teeth for too long and although I wanted to see the eclipse and thought about calling in to cancel the appointment, I didn’t. Keeping up with my teeth was more important.”

In spite of all the eclipse excitement—and the crowd of spectators that Robin could see gathered outside her window and staring up at the sun—this dental provider’s attention never wavered from the patient under her care. As the dentists wanted their support staff to have a chance to see the eclipse, many of the dental team members had stepped outside and so Greg Grossman, DDS (above, left) stepped in as Piatt’s assistant.

No doubt, having two dentists at your side during a procedure is certainly a unique patient advantage. However, in spite of that, Denise said she was still nervous because of some negative dental experiences from her childhood. Recognizing and validating her concerns, Piatt took action.

“I knew Denise was pretty apprehensive that morning, so we talked about it and chose nitrous oxide to help her with her comfort,” Piatt says. “Not only did the procedure go very well but after it was over, we were all laughing with her, giggling about how she got her care that day by the luck of the moon. It was the ‘eclipse filling’!”

One Community Health patient, Denise Foster, gets a new smile, thanks to her recent "eclipse filling."