I'm writing to publicly appreciate and recommend Dr. Karen Gear, a Vineyard endodontist (the only endodontist on the Island), whose professionalism in response to my family's dental emergency last weekend was both masterful and efficient, not to mention timely.

Our family was on the Island for the weekend to attend the funeral and memorial service of our beloved cousin, Ernie Mendenhall. Emotionally drained, smarting from the long ride from New Jersey the day before, and already suffering acute tenderness in her jaw, by Friday afternoon my daughter, Holly, had a full-blown dental nightmare.

The erstwhile telephone land line and internet service were down at our house in Chilmark, so at 3:30 p.m. we resorted to a years-old Island Book in search of a dentist. I called perhaps eight of them, and left messages with my cell number on all that had answering machines describing Holly's situation. Not one human answered; apparently Friday afternoon is not a good time to need a dentist on Martha’s Vineyard. Holly called her dad, who lives off-Island. He quickly consulted Dr. Google, found Dr. Karen Gear's name and number, and she kindly allowed him to set up a consultation appointment for that afternoon, as long as we could get there before 5 p.m.

Holly and I hustled down to Dr. Gear's office on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven, arriving at 4:30, just as she was finishing up with another patient. Within minutes, Holly was in the chair, with a kind and capable team by her side ready to hold her hand through multiple anesthetic shots in anticipation of a root canal. Relief was imminent.

In record time, Dr. Gear treated my daughter and relieved her pain; her friendly front office staffer stayed late to help us finish the requisite insurance paperwork and also put through prescriptions to nearby Scripts, where I could walk to pick them up before my daughter was even out of the chair.

When we returned home — less than two hours later, Holly was already feeling better. On Saturday morning, Dr. Gear called to check on Holly's pain. The dentists whose answering machines took my plea for help? Not one returned my call.

The Vineyard is so lucky Dr. Gear pulled out of Manhattan and came to hang her shingle on the Vineyard. (Two of her New York patients were in the waiting room when we left at five o' clock.)

Emily Logue and Family
Hamilton, N.J.