The story from my family is that my grandfather, Papa Martin, needed some dental work done in a more urgent fashion. So he found Dr. Esposito, whose tagline was "Gentle Dentistry". Eventually, the rest of our family started coming to see her.
I practically consider her a family friend. She watched me grow up and once I got taller than her, she would remark at every appointment about how tall I've gotten and her memories of when I was so little. Those were the days when Mom would schedule check-ups for herself, my brother, and me all together. Later, I would schedule them on my own time.
While sometimes dental work could be intimidating, like getting the plaque off in routine check-ups, or even the more involved process of getting shots to numb me before extraction of teeth, she had some bells and whistles in her approach which truly made me enjoy going to dental appointments at her practice.
If I behaved during my appointment, when it was time to depart, she would give me the opportunity to pick out something from her prize drawer. For routine check-ups, if I was without cavities, she would take my picture next to one of the stuffed animals she had thronging a bench and then I would be up on the wall for the "No Cavity Club". My photo would remain there until the next appointment and I could get a new one if I had no cavities.
In all the years I've gone to see her, I have never once had a cavity, as she can confirm. She can also confirm that I had a supernumerary tooth, which she removed since it only served to give me the chance to tell an unusual fact about myself, which I can still do.
When I got taller than her and outgrew the prize drawer and the No Cavity Club, I got to be in the Loyalty Club.
Indeed, I've kept coming back, even when she entered semi-retirement, because I've felt a good sense of connection to someone who's done a great service in taking care of my teeth. And I congratulate her on retirement as she caps off a great dentistry career.
Thank you, Dr. Esposito!
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