Oral History

In 1978 Stan walked across the street from the newspaper office in Chaska and got his first gold crown, $168, including installation.

Stan's All-Star dental team. Still practicing.

The dentist office is still there, and so is the dentist. . . the crown hasn't moved either. Gold, however, has gone up considerably, and so has the price of painless dentistry.
This morning Mary cleaned Stan's teeth for the fortieth time since she started there in 1993; Over the years, they've shared pictures and stories of children and now grandchildren. "Peppermint or Wintergreen today?" she asked cheerfully, revving up her polisher. Stan chided her for the limited selection, said he didn't know the difference. He remembers the good old days with flavors like cherry, blackberry and bubblegum.
Stan has been supporting this brave Chaska practice for so long now that when Dr. Mayerle looked inside today and then reported that there was no work to be done, Stan apologized. The doc just snorted and allowed that they'd still make payroll somehow.
The topic turned to Jennifer's construction project in Northfield, with Stan complaining that sometimes it is a choice between wearing safety goggles or a dust mask at the busy job site. "If you're wearing a mask, your breath fogs the safety glasses and you can't see what you're doing. If you don't wear a mask, you're choking on dust."
"What kind of mask are you using?" the good dentist queried helpfully.
"The blue kind that you steal while you wait in the doctor's exam room," Stan laughed.
"Oh, these are better," he said, gesturing to the fancy one he had been using. "They bend around your nose real nice so the air doesn't flow up."
Today's parting gifts: a green toothbrush, a pack of dental floss . . . and a pair of All Star professional dental masks.
Loyalty has its dividends.