Jack I Am

Jack I AM

Alright, so today, I’m comin’ outa the closet. And now that I have your attention…

Just so you know; my idol is still Billy Joel. Billy was and is shorter AND uglier than me but somehow he managed to marry Christie Brinkley and they were together for nine freakin’ years! After meeting Christie on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1979, I’d have settled for twenty minutes.

So yeah, this is not THAT kind of “comin’ out.”

For starters, I’m not that guy who needs to be called DOCTOR all the time. In fact, the highest honor or form of flattery I ever get or want is when a patient calls me Jack. There it is…and I’m out. I just wanna be Jack.

And having done 4-years of hard Dental School time at the University of Spoiled Children, I realize there are some staunch traditionalists out there… so if you must, I’ll also answer to “Dr. V” or “Dr. Jack.”

The smartest and funniest dentist I’ve ever met goes by Howard. Arguably the best restorative clinician/teacher in the world let’s me and every other molar jockey, plus all of Seattle call him John. And I may be pushin’ 440-dog years but I’m still very impressionable.

And one more thing: Doctor Jack Von Bulow sounds like someone who would have fun playing with electricity and building an artificial UCLA student made outa spare dental parts, duct tape, fluoride gel, and one very large metal bolt…and that’s with my name not even including the umlaut (good thing I don’t have a middle name to tack on…and I can thank the Catholic Church, Frank Sinatra, Teddy Kennedy, and the NFL for that one.)

Thing is, my mom and dad, brother, aunts and uncles and cousins (yeah, even THOSE cousins) call me Jack. The same salutation goes for golf buddies, colleagues, ex-girl friends (they tend to editorialize the name more than the rest) and even my 1,200+ Facebook friends I’ve mostly never met. So why is it bad form for patients to call me Jack; especially when I see them as friends and family?

Friends and family have a certain comfort level where they can relax, listen, and ask the questions they really want to ask without the fear of being judged. And it’s hard work having fun with Jack Von Bulow, DDS but if you really use your imagination, it can almost be cool hangin’ out with smilin’ Jack.

So if you’ve taken a chance, made a choice, and honored us with the opportunity to serve you like friends and family, please just do one more thing. Please use my favorite word as often as you like…and the rest is all about you.

Besides, Dr. Jack Von Bulow, with or without the umlaut, sounds like an old guy.