Why Dentistry? Part I

So, when I look back on 46-freakin years in Dentistry while also doing hard time as a small business owner, graduate continuing education student extraordinaire, CEO, clinician, consultant, citizen of the community and bless my heart…even a mentor, I wonder where I went wrong?

I’ve practiced restorative dentistry in our sleepy SoCal hamlet of Temple City (a Pasadena suburb) so long that shortly after selling the dental practice, the mayor and city council invited me to speak at a monthly meeting. I’d consistently written content for local chamber and San Gabriel valley rags for 24-years. And when you publish stuff for over 2-decades, I think local political commentary becomes an understandable entitlement. Between you and me, I think the local pols just wanted to make sure I was leaving town.

The meeting marked the first time I’d shared my original plan right out loud in public: twenty years in and out and onto the Amalfi coast of Italy year-round (except for USC Football season.) Instead, the second 26-years of dental practice turned out being the most fun and rewarding. And I think John Lennon was on the money when he mused, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making plans.”

But why dentistry?

An opportunity that happened a little before I started ordering N95s, gowns, caps, and shields arrived by way of Impactful Internships and its Health Science Immersion Program (HSIP). Somehow, the leader of the program dove into social media and an imaginary best seller’s list and chose me to represent dentistry. The program reaches out quarterly and provides fortunate students with a head start in life and a health science career journey. Quarterly I get to present to and mentor high school kids, some of whom might wind up being a research biochemist, surgeon, pharmacist, or your dentist.

The HSIP students learn about goal setting, creating a vision, understanding time management, collaborating to build and deliver a presentation, and exploring the Myers Briggs personality profile. The students get to hear from a variety university professors, graduate students, and health science and service professionals. These days, the students spend nine consecutive Saturdays at HSIP.

A frequent leadoff inquiry during my presentation Q&A is “Why?” Much of the content that follows answers the “How?” And I’m beyond awesome with “How?”; and it’s cool when you have a library of mistakes that get to morph into teaching opportunities.

My “How?” starts with a review of the path I took to becoming a dentist; and the students are totally amazed I can still remember being their age. I get eyerolls mentioning stuff like cursive writing and my mention of “professional athlete” as my 9th grade career choice always draws major laughs. When I show the future health scientists the slide rule I used in place of a computer (that was at least 3-decades into the then-future,) I can tell they’re feeling sorry for me- and I know I have them in the palm of my hand.

Yeah, I assumed it was just a matter of choosing the right sport and a fun job for the off-season (the students also register shock that early LA Laker players also sold life insurance.) My HS Basketball career began late-fall Mondays at 6AM as part the “D” team (better than F). I stood 5’6” and weighed 100-lbs; and I started…as a power forward; we were league champs. And little did I know, my High School roundball career had hit its apex (3-years as a role player off the descending alphabet bench.) The growth spurt didn’t happen. I had an early fear of large animals with small brains who consistently emotionally overreact, and I also had problems being upside down: so being a jockey or a gymnast were not options. I needed a career change.

My aunt had a friend who was a commercial artist and I thought I was the next Picasso. Sitting at a Mark Keppel High art table next to a kid named Bruno who was busy designing cars, drawing naked ladies, and I thought, planning his next felony, I knew I needed career change #2. I went to a counselor for the first and last time and learned my aptitude for math was strong.

Science AND math go together like Laurel and Hardy, Benny and the Jets, and or Marjorie Taylor Green and Jewish space lasers. I thought it would be great to work in health science but all I knew about health service was doctors, dentists, and disease. After reading William Nolen’s Making of a Surgeon, Surgeon’s World, and Surgeon under the Knife, I concluded being a physician took a long time, life balance would be a longshot, and you ended up with bypass surgery. I chose dentistry.

At about this juncture of my HSIP presentation, I ask all the Zoom participants to guess my Cal State, LA first quarter GPA. I’m beyond flattered when I see so many 3.8s, 3.9s, and even an occasional 4.0. Back before Covid-19 when the presentation was live and not virtually delivered, I’d throw out a USC T-shirt to the student who came closest without going over the exact number. And there’s always one little punk kid who goes sub-2.13 while wearing a smug teenage nerd smile.

I share we all have our own version of the “2.13” that returns to me in a whisper whenever I start assuming or when my being humble becomes a challenge. But it’s also there to remind me that I listened to my mentor (my dad), focused, overcame an obstacle (me), and accomplished a life goal; if I could do that once, I could do it again. And so could every future Healthcare provider sharing a Saturday afternoon screen.

Next up: Why Dentistry? Part II