DELTA, Ohio — Tong Shen lives in Delta, Ohio, with her husband Stephen Seagrave. The couple married on Sept. 8, 2023, after meeting online and falling in love through instant messaging.
While their love story has become more commonplace, what isn't commonplace is their language barrier. Shen doesn't speak English and Seagrave isn't versed in Mandarin.
"She texted that she couldn't speak English. I replied back to her, 'That's OK, we can talk with our eyes and our smiles,'" Seagrave said.
The two agreed that learning how to speak each other's respective languages is both helpful and romantic for the couple's communication.
"I make flashcards for her and we listen to things," Seagrave said. "She's easy to look at and she's an excellent cook."
But what's not helpful or romantic, is when Shen's doctors cannot communicate with her. But at her dentist, the language barrier is no longer there thanks to an online interpreter service that Riley Miller, a dental hygienist at Dental Excellence, said they offer their patients.
"We get all their questions answered that way they're not leaving the office confused and they can just feel comfort knowing that we have options for them," Miller said.
According to a 2020 report from the American Translators Association, 25 million Americans don't speak English.
The service Dental Excellence uses offers more than 200 language interpreters, including Mandarin, at just the tap of an icon on an iPad. Shen is grateful.
"I think the interpreter service is very important," she said. "At least I will understand what's going on with my teeth. I can understand what doctors are telling me. I wouldn't know what's going on and that would frustrate me, so, this interpreter service is great."
While having dental patients just use a cell phone translation app or bring a multi-lingual family member in to help translate could save Dental Excellence from spending money on the service, Miller said it's about putting in the effort.
"That way we can actually explain dentistry to them and they know what's going on," Miller said.
Dental Excellence's offices in Delta, Napoleon and Sylvania all offer the interpreter service. For more information, click here to be taken to their website.