On the Return to Amish episode “Dental Dilemma,” while Mary Schmucker’s daughter Esther shows up in New York while the rest are visiting Kate, Abe Schmucker wonders if the cost of his dental work ($20,000) is worth compromising his Amish beliefs. The only way Abe can afford to pay for the dental work is if his wife Rebecca finds a job.
[Joe Mackell wrote about the Amish way of life in the book, Plain Secrets: An Outsider among the Amish]
Breaking Amish fans will remember that Rebecca had all of her teeth removed when she was 19. In the Amish world, pulling one’s teeth is seen as “an economical choice not one of vanity or necessity.” In the big picture, pulling them all out is cheaper than having cavities and root canals and individual extractions over one’s lifetime. Rebecca now wears dentures. New episodes of Return to Amish airs Sundays at 9pm on TLC.
