Denver Dentist Saw Her Patient’s Adult Teeth Were Missing. She Told Her to Get Screened for Cancer: ‘I Saved Someone’s Live Today.’

This dentist may have saved a couple of lives after one scheduled cleaning.

“I saved someone’s life today. That has to be worth something,” Dr. Mackenzie Mac Kelley (@mackelleydds) told TikTok.

“I learned at a dental class one time that if a patient is missing adult teeth, they could have a higher risk of maybe developing colon cancer someday,” the dentist continued. She noticed that one of her patients was missing most of her adult teeth. It was cause for concern, and just to be safe, Kelley told her patient to get a cancer screening.

“Some days, if you’re a healthcare worker, you understand. You’re like, so busy all the time, you’re always running behind,” Kelley said. She continued to explain the stresses of being a dentist. Some patients are upset that they’d have to wait long for their appointment, while dentists try to finish their jobs as fast as they can.

@mackelleydds

Today was a reminder of why I do this. A few years ago, I spoke with a patient about a health concern that made me worry she might be at higher risk for colon cancer. It wasn’t the reason she came to see me, but sometimes our job as healthcare providers is to look beyond teeth and see the whole person. I’ll be honest. There are days when it feels like patients don’t want to hear what we have to say. Days when you’re running behind, trying to give everyone the time they deserve, and wondering if anything you’re saying is actually making a difference. Today that patient came back and thanked me. She told me that conversation led to further testing, and that her father was ultimately diagnosed with a serious condition that may have otherwise gone undetected. Moments like this remind me that healthcare isn’t about selling treatment. It’s about caring enough to have difficult conversations, even when they’re uncomfortable. Sometimes you never know the impact a few minutes of genuine concern can have. And sometimes, years later, you find out it mattered. #dentist #healthcare #cancer

♬ original sound – mackelleydds

Dentists are not the only healthcare workers who face the same dilemma. Doctors and nurses also have to deal with their patients while actively trying to provide their service. It’s not an easy job, as one ICU nurse recalled when his dementia patient caused a jam in her toilet after trying to flush her IV line in it.

Although her days tend to get busy, Kelley took the time to inform her patient to get a colon cancer screening.

The patient went in for a cancer screening

“Who knows if she’s going to pay attention to me? But she came back to me today for her cleaning,” Kelley stated. The patient informed Kelley that because of her warning, she and her father went to get screened.

Apparently, the woman’s father also had missing adult teeth. To clarify, these missing teeth were not caused by a procedure or accident. Rather, these are people who had failed to develop one or more permanent teeth.

“Just like you said, we’re at a higher risk for colon cancer, and we got checked out, and my dad has all of these polyps that we wouldn’t have caught anyway,” the woman told Kelley at the time. At this point, the dentist was crying in her car recalling the story. She didn’t expect her patient to take her advice and get checked. But because the patient and her father got screened, they found out that the father had strange masses in his body.

These polyps, although most are benign, some can turn cancerous.

“It made me realize that, wow, maybe what I do does matter,” Kelley said, still in tears. She explained that when she isn’t running behind schedule, she does her best to educate her patients.

“So many times, you just feel like patients don’t want to be there. They don’t want to be at the dentist, they’re complaining,” she stated. Some people would even complain about insurance coverage. Understandably, not all people can afford to go to the dentist. One woman even had to pay for a child’s dental care after her guardians failed to pay the dental bill.

Dental hygiene and health are important for a person’s quality of life. Even though her patient didn’t report finding anything on herself, the knowledge Kelley passed on to her would still be useful because of her genetic predisposition. If this story proves anything, it’s that if possible, it’s best to never miss out on dental cleaning.

(featured images: Mackenzie Mac Kelley)

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