Its amazing what a difference one letter can make, one experience can make, and one person can make in the life of another. But, add one letter to the front of that word and you get “Whole” and the recognition that both trials and triumphs are integral parts of a complete and healthy life. Feelings of isolation, despair, and hopelessness may arise. With the image of the well or one of your own fear-inducing experiences in mind, consider the word “hole”. We want to be here to help them get back up by helping them to chart a new course in an environment of compassion and non-judgment.

We know there are many out there that have taken that fall. A fear-inducing encounter in an environment of forced vulnerability impairs one’s ability to receive dental care in the future. Many people’s experiences and fears with dentistry resemble Bruce’s fear of bats. After retrieving him from the well his father poses the question: “Why do we fall, Bruce?” with the answer being: “So we can learn to pick ourselves up.” There, in darkness and with a broken leg, he is attacked by a cloud of bats…a forced encounter with his greatest fear.

In the Dark Knight Batman trilogy there is a very poignant flashback scene where young Bruce Wayne falls into the well that will eventually become the bat cave.