Published: February 08, 2006 07:22 pm      

44 years of making brighter smiles

Dr. Crockarell hanging up his drill

Where do old dentists go when they hang up their drills? Indian Mound, Tennessee. At least that’s where Dr. Bailey Crockarell is planning on spending more time now that he has closed his practice after over 40 years in Jackson.

Crockarell was born in Indian Mound, Tennessee, right on the Kentucky border. After high school graduation in 1950, he attended Austin Peay University for two years. He then joined the Navy for four years and became a Naval Aviator. “I have over 100 [aircraft] carrier landings,” he added proudly. “Some of them at night.”

While in the service, Crockarell had a suitemate who was a dentist, and described all the benefits of the profession. Crockarell also had a cousin who was a dentist, who tried to convince him it was a good profession to be in.

“I had never considered dentistry before that,” he said. “When I got out of the Navy, I was not sure what I wanted to do. But I took a dental exam, passed it and got into school. I just went with it. I had no special desire to be a dentist.”

No, if there was a special desire in the young Crockarell’s life, it was the mayor’s daughter. Growing up in Indian Mound, he met Sara Beth Tippit, the Mayor of Dover’s daughter, while in elementary school. They were friends then, but grew closer in high school. Something clicked between Crockarell and Tippit, and while he was attending Austin Peay they were married.

After Bailey passed his dental exam, the Crockarells moved to Memphis so he could enroll in the Univeristy of Tennessee’s Dentist School there. He graduated several years later in March. The state board was not held until June that year, but Crockarell heard about a hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia where a dental graduate could practice without a license.

So the Crockarells adopted Georgia.

While he was working at the hospital in Milledgeville, Bailey got to know a dental supply man. One day, the supply man told Crockarell that the City of Jackson had lost its only dentist, a Dr. Johnson, who moved to Macon. “He said I was missing a great opportunity in Jackson,” recalled Crockarell last week. “I thought I’d spend a year here, and then move on.”

The young dentist had a good feeling about his new home that first week. “I lived in a farm house on Old Barnesville Road, and I remember that first week I was living there that Jackson High went to play Lamar County. Jackson won at Barnesville and they hooped and hollered in a convoy all the way back to Jackson. I said right then, ‘this is the place for me!’”

“I liked the closeness of the small town,” Dr. Crockarell said. “We’ve got the ideal situation here, too, because we’re close enough to the big cities to have a little fun.”

Forty-four years later, it’s time to move on and have a little more fun.

“I’ve extracted and filled a lot of teeth,” he said. “I figure about 15 patients a day times five days a week for 44 years.” That’s about 171,600 patient visits in his 44-year carrer. So, how is Butts County’s dental hygiene today compared to then?

“Dental hygiene here is improving all the time,” admitted Dr. Crockarell. “I extracted a lot more teeth when I first came here. And I don’t do nearly the dental work I once did. Everyone used to want their teeth extracted and dentures.

“I used to come in at night, too, for emergencies. But that’s changed. People are more considerate now.”

And Dr. Crockarell has had good help over the years. His hygienist, Mozelle, and receptionist, Wynnell, have been with him for a combined 70 years. “I don’t have room for a big staff, and if they’d left anytime in the last 30 years, I’d have left too,” admitted the dentist.

He also told the story of a former staff member named Fannie. She took a call one day from a patient who had a toothache. Dr. Crockarell was not available to help the situation, so Fannie gave the patient the best advice she could. “She told him to drink a little whiskey, swish it around the hurt tooth, and then swallow the whiskey. If the tooth still hurt, do it again,” said Crockarell with a smile and laugh.

It’s obvious from even a brief visit with Dr. Crockarell that he is quick with a humorous story or joke, and enjoys seeing others smile. “That was my favorite part of being a dentist,” he admitted, “getting to socialize and visit with people. By making them feel better, I felt better. I tried to smile, and to speak to them first to get them at ease.”

Now, with the closing of his practice, perhaps Dr. Crockarell will have more time to smile and socialize in his retirement.

“It’s not a retirement,” he said quickly. “It’s just another phase. I want to play some golf, travel a little bit. I might cut the grass. I might watch it grow.” He also enjoys gardening, hunting and fishing, and “whatever Sara Beth tells me to do.”

All of that might be possible at a log cabin in Indian Mound, Tennessee on his family farm. “We’re going to spend some time there, and I’ve got two grandchildren who are very active in recreation – so I’d like to spend a lot of time with them.”

In his four-plus decades in Butts County, Bailey Crockarell has been involved in the Kiwanis Club, the Rotary Club, the Daughtry Foundation, a director at McIntosh State Bank, and the Jackson United Methodist Church. He was named Young Man of the Year by the Jaycees, and was inducted in the Butts County Parks & Recreation Department’s Hall of Fame recently. “We are so fortunate to have these organizations here,” he said. “And I appreciate all of their support over the years.”

Now he and the mayor’s daughter can spend some years smiling knowing they have helped an entire community smile for over 40 years.