It Can’t Get Any Better Than This...Can It?
Music plays a big role in the Miller residence. We have a Spotify playlist for almost every activity, mood, and location. With titles like Pancakes, SuperChill, Puzzletime, Blackies Bay, and Big Mountain to name a few. Maxwell, who just turned four, asks me to turn on his “jam” everyday as I return home from work...without fail. “Jam” is his default term for whatever song he has chosen to be his favorite. For the longest time it was Radioactive by Imagine Dragons, but more recently it is some DubStep number he heard on a television commercial called The Buzz. He dances tirelessly in his superhero underwear and yells, “again, again” when it is over.
I’ll spin his “jam” a couple times but I maintain my position as the music Alpha in the house. I call the shots, set the tone, adjust the volume. That is until recently however, as our 10 year old daughter Nayvee has emerged as a contender. A powerful mix of opinion, attitude, sass, and stubbornness. This has correlated inconveniently with a new Justin Bieber album that I hate to admit has some catchy tunes. To make a short story shorter, I have learned that it’s easier just to give in to a 10 year old with “strong opinions” and sit back and enjoy the show. Being the beta isn’t that bad.
One song in particular that the kids have on consistent rotation is by a group called Twenty One Pilots titled Stressed Out. The chorus of the song is as follows, “Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol’ days, When our momma sang us to sleep but now we’re stressed out.” The song goes on to reveal that the reasons for the stress are the normal responsibilities that come with adulthood. I found myself not only digging the tune a little bit, but also totally relating to it. Especially the line about the artist's preference for tree house homes over student loans. As my 7 year old son Banksy strolled past singing along to the chorus I asked him, “Banks, what do you think he means by ‘the good ol’ days?’” Banksy replied, “I don’t know Dad.” So I followed up with another question, “Do you know what it means to be ‘stressed out?’” Of course his answer was “Nope.”
Let’s go back to the time when we were less stressed out. To the good ol’ days. When our laughs and smiles were pure. Think of the amazing and phenomenal things we have witnessed. Things we would never believe had we not seen them with our own eyes. How many times in my life have I uttered the words, “they’ve done it, it can’t get any better than this.” How often have you thought those same things? How many of you are thinking that right now with your iPhone 6+ in your hand streaming the newest release in high definition through some magical thing called 4G LTE. Pretty dang-stinkin unbelievable, am I right?
A little over a year ago a Dental Rep (DR) stopped in my office wanting to discuss a certain piece of dental tech called the CEREC that allowed the dentist to offer porcelain restorations in one appointment. Highly aesthetic porcelain crowns in one visit bypassing the need for a temporary, a second visit, and the possibility of having to be numbed a second time. The DR knew that I had done a live demo some years prior with the previous rep and wanted to show me the latest hardware and software upgrades. I am very much a hands-on, the proof is in the pudding type of learner and told him we would need to do another live demo. If it was as good as he sold it, the tech would sell itself.
We did the live demo and I rocked a poker face so good Lady Gaga would have folded with pocket Aces. It performed as advertised. I was amazed almost as much as the patient. The CEREC was a game changer.
I knew it, but unfortunately the CEREC also knew it and came with a “game-changer” price tag. Maintaining my poker face, I transitioned into swap-meet mode and walked away. A month passes and I get a call from the DR saying a spot has opened up at their training schedule for the weekend and could they fly me to Scottsdale for the weekend. Scottsdale in April? See you in a few days.
I show up, make a lot of crowns, fall deeper and deeper in love with this technology all the while receiving the full-court sales press from DR. Amazingly I return home without putting pen to paper and the negotiations continue. Finally he walks into my office and goes Godfather on me “making me an offer I cannot refuse.” “Dr. Miller” he says, “I have never had a client with as much CEREC exposure as you who did not buy the technology. I am going to let you have the CEREC free of charge for 6 months.” No commitments?” I ask. “No fine print?” “Nope” he replies, “however, after 6 months I either come and take it away or you buy it.”
We both knew that I wasn’t giving it back but a 6 month test drive made it sting a little less. Fast forward 10 months and hundreds of crowns later and we still feel like kids on Christmas morning. We are amazed at the perfect fit, the life-like contour, the bite that feels right every time. We get to let our inner artist out with a wide selection of stains and glazes in order to better match the shades and nuances of our patients teeth. Patients love hearing that we can fix their broken teeth immediately with no need to wait weeks for the lab to make their new crown.
Thinking back on how, just a mere 10 months prior, we used goopy impression material and fickle temporary acrylic feels a lot like reflecting back on dial-up internet; a lot like VHS and cassette tapes. The future is here and I am tempted to say to myself, “they have indeed done it, it cannot get any better than this.” But I’m all grown up, an adult, stressed out. I have been fooled twice so shame on me; I know it will get better. I would be a fool to think it won’t; And how exciting is that.
So take that high definition marvel of modern science and technology out of your back pocket and cue up your “jam.” Folks we are all growing older; But we are growing older as part of one another’s village in Montana, and that’s enough to keep a SMILE on my face. Thank You!
View It Can’t Get Any Better Than This…Can It? from Dr. John Miller in 406 Woman magazine.