World's Greatest Dentist

As many of you know, I grew up in Rexburg Idaho. There is a family in my current ward in Michigan who has two daughters attending BYU Idaho in Rexburg. The other day the father of the family asked if I know of any dentists in Rexburg. I was pleased to inform him that the greatest dentist in the world lives and works in Rexburg Idaho. The man's name is R. Lane Ward. And he is the greatest dentist in the world.


He was the bishop of my youth, and so I have a fondness for him. I have lived in a few different places, and every time I go to a new dentist, they look in my mouth and comment on the quality of previous dental work. Nearly every dentist I have ever been to has made a similar compliment.

My wife's father was out of work for nearly all of her teenage years. One of the things the family had to do without was dental care during this time. When my wife and I got married she had not been to a dentist in years. One morning she woke up with a lot of pain in a tooth. After a few days we decided to send her to this dentist. He called me after the appointment and told me that I should have looked inside my wife's mouth before I married her. I thought he was being funny. He was not. My wife needed two root canals, seventeen fillings, and wisdom teeth removed. All of it was highly recommended.

We did not have insurance that would cover this. We were extremely poor college students who did not come from wealthy families. This was a fairly large scale financial tragedy for us at the time. But what else was I going to do? We decided to go ahead and figure out how to pay for it all later.

The work was done, and we went to the office to work out the bill and payment. His daughter was working as the receptionist. Dr./Bishop Ward gave her a list of the work he had done, and she punched calculator keys like mad. When she was done and hit the equals button, the man grimaced. This was not a good sign. He told her to give us the student discount. She gave him a puzzled look, and he nodded to her. She clicked a couple of keys and hit equals again. He told her that since we were both students that she should give us another student discount. A few more clicks.

'Again', he said.
Click, click, click.
'Again'.
Click, click, click.
'Again'.
More clicking.

After about one dozen student discounts, a figure was arrived at. The hundreds of dollars that were saved, when given our pathetic financial situation, was one of the most charitable acts I have been privileged to receive. Dentists in many towns comment on the quality, (and sometimes amount!) of the dental work my wife has had.

So, this individual in our Michigan ward called this great dentist in Rexburg. The dentist saw his daughter that day. Wisdom teeth will be removed this Friday. I am sure the procedure will be successful.

If you ever happen to be in Rexburg, and need quality dental care, (or know someone who does) I am pleased to recommend that you visit Dr. R. Lane Ward who happens to be the best dentist in the world. I am not sure what his current policy on student discounts is, but you will receive the very best care you could ever get. Tell him Eric Nielson sent you. He may have a story or two to tell.