Shadowing orthodontist R

So while I said I would post about my shadowing experience at an orthodontist office, I failed to do so. I've been so busy with other things. Anyways, before I forget about my experience, I'd better post, post, post!

I was introduced to this orthodontist's dental assistant when I was volunteering for "Give Kids A Smile Day" at the dental office where I work. I have heard his name several times since I have started working at the dental office where I work because our dentists refer patients to him. However, I could never find his name on the internet because I only knew of his last name and it was not spelled the way I thought it was.

Of course, as anyone who works in a dental office, they want to know what the heck this younger looking person is doing in a dental office. I explained myself and told her what my deal was. She was the sweetest dental assistant I had ever met. I brought up how I'm trying to improve my shadowing and volunteering hours and she offered to get in touch with me about shadowing with her orthodontist boss. Well, to my surprise, she actually really remembered to get in touch with me before I had even thought to contact her.

Anyways, long story short, a few weeks later I was at his office ready to shadow, but had never met him. I guess you can say that I went in with very few expectations. From my experiences being in the chair opposite the orthodontist for many years, frankly, I thought orthodontics was a quite boring field. However, this orthodontist showed be otherwise. He was the nicest dental professional I had ever met in my life, explaining things every chance he got and also invited me to join him in consultation meetings and toured his clinic.

His approach to orthodontics was quite unique. He often left the final decision to the patient and the guardians versus forcing an idea or opinion about which option he would like to implement. He described all the options,  shared the potential costs, and left the final decision up to the person who'd have to deal with the metal pieces for the next few months. This orthodontist even shared that a cheaper option, if money was an issue, was going down to the local university, where you could get the cheapest braces in the state.

It was amazing the work he has done. He showed me some images of past cases, and it is amazing how the face structure changes as well as the teeth. What a difference a few months of restructuring your teeth and jaws could do. Simply amazing. Also, I was impressed with his use of technology and the design of his office. His incentives and reward systems would not benefit him one bit, but he still used them to encourage his patients to practice good habits. He often stated throughout the day, "I don't want you to pay me to twiddle my thumbs," in reference to waiting until more teeth came in or practice good habits so that the patient could get their braces out earlier and get a refund for the abbreviated length of the initial suggested outlook of the treatment plan. He had monthly drawings where if a patient practiced good brushing habits, every visit the patients name would be put in a drawing for $100.

I was blown away. I fell in love instantly with the specialty of orthodontics, even though I know it's highly unlikely that I could ever become one seeing that you have to be in the TOP TEN percent of your DENTAL CLASS to study those extra two years to become a dentist. Anyways, orthodontists, gotta love 'em!

Introductory Blog!

I decided to start this blog for three main reasons:

1. to track my progress as I apply to dental school a second time around
2. to reflect on my experiences and encounters with dentistry
3. IF I become a dentist, to share how I am making an impact as professional of dentistry

So, essentially, I'm doing two things at this point in time. Now, I guess I can't say I've been completely been disregarded as a candidate for dental school for the 2012 school year, but I'm not going to count on my status right now. Thus, I decided in January to prepare to re-apply. I think I'm on the right track so far, mentally and physically. 

It won't be easy to make myself into a better and improved candidate by June 4, 2012, but I'm going to give it I have got until then. If that means giving up my friends, my hobbies, and being plain lazy -- then I must do it. My future rides on this. An orthodontist asked me today, "Do you have a plan B?". This struck me by surprise because aside from the fact that it is an uncommon question asked by a dental professional, my plans B, C, and D are so far behind my plan A that I keep myself as distant as I can from plans that don't start with A. (More on my shadowing experience tomorrow....)

What am I doing now to show my dedication to dental school? Volunteering once a week, shadowing a bit more, thinking about taking the DAT again, applied to a summer enrichment program, and working once a week as a receptionist at a dental office. 

Anyways, tomorrow is Friday. Hopefully I won't get any mail for I fear Friday snail mail, it only means one thing. R-E-J-E-C-T-I-O-N.