Dentist’s kindness to boy with autism leads to this Feel Good Friday surprise

EastIdahoNews.com is partnering with Ashley and Ashley Outlet of Idaho Falls to honor people in our community for Feel Good Friday. Every week, we surprise someone deserving of special recognition.

We received an email several months ago from a mother about a dentist who came to the rescue during an emergency. Part of it says:

I have a nine-year-old son who has autism. He is nonverbal and when he is sick, he is extremely aggressive since he can’t communicate his needs. (Recently) my son was “off” and I took him to his pediatrician’s office. They couldn’t identify anything.

After a week or so, his aggression escalated and he even started to say “ouch” and hold his jaw. I got the earliest appointment available at our regular dentist, which was a week out. Another week passed and his condition worsened. He refused to let the dentist do an examine and the office told me that they would need to submit an authorization and then they could schedule some sedation dentistry. They said that it would be about a month.

I knew that we couldn’t make it a month. I left the office feeling hopeless. As many special needs parents do, I immediately started researching other options and calling around town. One of the offices referred me to Alligator Pediatric Dentistry and I am so grateful that they did. From the waiting room to the exam room and finding us a solution, they were kind, considerate, and helpful.

That exam was on a Tuesday and they had us in for sedation dentistry that same Friday. Dr. Pickett was new to our area and didn’t even have rights at EIRMC yet. His office pulled all kinds of strings to get us in. They submitted an emergency authorization for the insurance and arranged everything with EIRMC so they were prepared for my son.

In the end, they found my son had a terrible abscessed tooth that was sure to be causing him incredible pain. I have been thinking about their kindness for months and I hope that you can reward the office for a job well done. The number of offices that we have been in over the years is too numerous to count. Many local offices don’t know how to help, they stare and even point. Alligator let my son play with phones and keyboards while waiting to be examined. They rushed to get us back to a room. They immediately had a doctor in to see us. They had several dental assistants on hand to help. They were proactive in finding solutions.

We decided to surprise Dr. Pickett and thank him for his kindness. Check out the video in the player above!