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About 6 years ago, we started visiting Miami all the time.
My aunts and uncles were living there. They were getting older and traveling for them had gotten tougher. So, every year we would do a Miami trip.
Finn started going to Miami when he was 2 years old. Each time we went, he had a blast. Most of our time was spent at the beach and the pool.
As a little kid, Finn would speak several words that he has now outgrown. For example, the word "love," he used to pronounce as “Yuv.”
The way he heard Miami was My Ami. So whenever he told us he wanted to go to Miami, he would say, "I want to go to Dad’s Ami."
Or if he was talking to me, he would say, "I want to go to Your Ami."
He hasn’t said “Your Ami” in years. He now knows that it’s called Miami.
Out of the blue, the other day, he said, “Dad, I want to go to Your Ami.”
I began to laugh and it brought back great memories of his infant stage.
We have sounds, smells, words, and so on, that elicit certain memories. Sometimes, the memories are positive but other times, the memories could be negative.
In dentistry, we see patients all the time that are anxious about going to the dentist. Most of those patients had a bad experience as a kid. A lot of those patients will have those bad memories come back with the sound of the drill or the smell of the materials.
They find going to the dentist to be very difficult and avoid going to the dentist all together.
For these patients, we offer them anxiety reducing medication that helps them get relaxed for their dental appointment.
We call this Anxiety Free Dentistry.
Many of these patients will start taking the anxiety reducing medication but once they have a few positive experiences with our office, they will no longer need the medications.
If you are anxious about going to the dentist or are avoiding the dentist, please visit us at mydente.com or call 773-292-1911 to schedule your Anxiety Free Dental consultation.
Floss Like a Madman!
Emilio "Sun Fun in Miami" Couret
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