Posts Tagged ‘Dental’

“…‘It is written…’” (Matthew 4:4, NKJV).

As followers of Christ, leaders in dentistry have the opportunity—perhaps even the responsibility—to write things down for their teams as a reference and to understand as principled guidance for working together, serving the patients in their care or dealing with the vendors who knock on their doors or crowd their inboxes. When those written guidelines are lived out by the owning dentist or partners, dental teams catch a vision for how dentistry and ministry come together in kingdom living. And those who put their thoughts into words on paper or screen can have an impact far beyond the walls of their offices.

In one of my Bible study periods, the words found in 1 John 2:6 captured my attention. The verse reads, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (NKJV). The “He” in this passage, written by the apostle John, was referring to “Jesus Christ the righteous.” Long after reading this Scripture, the words kept coming back to my mind. I knew the Holy Spirit was inspiring my mind to engage in a specific activity, to walk just as Jesus walked. I realized, then, that it is not enough to say you are a Christian; instead, there must be practical evidence to support that statement.

There was a time when some Christians felt the need to appear like they had it all together.  As though living an abundant life in Christ was a formula you just had to plug into and what emerged was someone who demonstrated equally all the fruit of the Spirit, all the time.  And while we might strive to be that endlessly selfless and giving person to our patients, it’s a little harder to keep that image up with the people we spend the most time with.  Naturally you might think of those you live with, but there’s also what someone in my office described as our “work family.”

I graduated from dental school a couple of weeks ago. This moment was what I had viewed for a long time as the precipice, the ultimate, the “everything I was working for” for 12 straight years. I say 12 years because even in high school I was a three-sport athlete involved in multiple clubs and activities and AP classes, and I was determined to never let my grades slip. My mom tells stories of me not leaving the dinner table most nights way beyond the time everyone else went to bed. She would try to stay up with me, but eventually her eyes would grow heavy, and she knew she had to be up early the next morning. She would give me a hug and say she was proud of me, and then quietly shut her bedroom door and allow me to keep working. College was no different other than that my mom was not there to witness the countless nights of studying, writing and completing assignments. I was on my own, but I was still just as determined to succeed in every metric. While some may say this sounds like admirable dedication and hard work, what I know to be true is that the underlying motivation for me was actually fear: fear of being a failure, fear of being a disappointment, fear of my life not being worth anything if I did not achieve.

Do you remember the first dental patient for whom you helped make a significant transformation in their oral health? Can you recall the day they came to see you for their very first appointment? It is likely they hadn’t been to the dentist in several years. Maybe they came because they had dental pain, or maybe they were ready to make a change in their lives and better their health. Whatever the reason, they were in your chair. You examined this patient and listed off several disciplines of care they would need: periodontal therapy, oral surgery, operative, prosthodontics, etc. A lengthy treatment plan that would take several months to complete as the patient underwent a process of transformation.

“…God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5, NIV).

As we continue in this season of gratitude and reflection on the meaning of Christ’s birth, I am especially grateful for the time I spent at the 2021 Emerging Leaders in Dentistry Conference. On Friday, October 29, 2021, I made my way with classmates Rachel Wians and Malory Peterson through the Minneapolis airport with the destination of Athens, Georgia in our sights. That weekend, we gathered with Christian dentists of all stages to reflect on what it means to be Christ’s image bearers in our field. Held in the spirit of passing wisdom on to future generations of Christian dentists, this conference has deeply impacted my vision and mission for living as a believer in the field of dentistry.

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

If you’ve never heard this quote before, really take a moment and read it again. Let the words sink in. This quote really embodies the saying “…for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7, KJV). You remember that feeling in dental school when you doubted if you could get a high grade on that dental exam or pass that competency? Or now when you do not believe you can get an exceptional outcome on that new dental procedure you have on your schedule next week? As dentists who are also human beings, we think about all the things that can go wrong, such as the dental equipment malfunctioning, the assistant’s inability to find the right instruments we need, poor lighting or that uncontrollable heme obscuring our vision. We verbalize our fears to our colleagues and/or others, and we limit our actions of researching better techniques or ways to execute the outcome we desire. We develop a habit of “winging it,” giving our minimum to the practice of dentistry, which ultimately is a better reflection of our values than what we recite to our patients. This is the slippery slope of our beliefs driving our words which can eventually drive our destiny.

As Christians in our present society, we feel responsibility to represent our heavenly Father who created us in His image and called us to be His children, the human signposts pointing all those around us to Him. What does this look like in our lives as Christian healthcare professionals in the public square?

The cliché phrase that is our life’s goal: pearly whites for all our patients. But are pearly whites enough?

Working at a mission hospital in rural Africa, I try to do as much as possible before taking an x-ray. Much of my examination is done just visually, until I can convince a patient an x-ray really is necessary. With this style of examination comes a bit of guess work, and sometimes, it is the “tooth that looks normal” that is actually the problem!

Throughout dental school, I have been actively seeking a rhythm of work and rest that honors the Lord, serves my patients and allows me to truly rest. This became of paramount importance to me because, if I’m honest, I knew this was something I had failed at for a large portion of my life. During college, I watched one of my roommates and best friends observe the Sabbath every Sunday. Blake would be running out the door with a picnic blanket and a football in her hand as I was cramming in last-minute studies for the week ahead. It was not that I never took breaks, but I could never bring myself to take off an entire day every week. Since elementary school, I had always strived for perfection in my work, so it was no big change for me in college to stay up late, wake up before the sun, incessantly check off to-do lists and barely enjoy the feeling of finishing one test before moving on to study for the next one. Looking back now, I realize how much of that striving was actually rooted in fear—fear that my future rested entirely in my own hands, fear that this is what was required for my life to be of value and, ultimately, fear that my ability to serve in the future was based entirely on my performance now.

If you had asked me my third year of dental school where I would be in five years, I would not have told you Memphis, Tennessee. I’m from Texas, and I’m one of those Texans who felt like they would always be in Texas because, as the catchy song goes, “God Blessed Texas.” At the same time, I felt God called me to do dentistry for a specific purpose. When looking at my options in Texas, everything felt like it would just be something to do but not what God was calling me to. I’m still not proficient at seeking God’s will, but I was even less proficient then. The Lord had to drop an opportunity right in my lap for me to think outside of what I thought was possible. He had me open an email from CMDA that I almost ignored, and I read a description of the CMDA Dental Residency [+] program that pulled on all the heart strings of what God used to lead me to dentistry. It described working in urban community clinics in Memphis, Tennessee to serve patients with the spiritual love of Christ and physical healthcare through dentistry. It also offered discipleship and a call to expand this vision beyond Memphis to other underserved settings in the U.S. and abroad.

In the process of becoming dental professionals, we have amassed a collection of academic and professional achievements under our belt. Along the way, we’ve probably been told how capable and talented we are and praised for our varied accomplishments.

In the process of becoming dental professionals, we have amassed a collection of academic and professional achievements under our belt. Along the way, we’ve probably been told how capable and talented we are and praised for our varied accomplishments.

What has your experience with mentorship been like? I have had the privilege of being both mentor and mentee with the CMDA Dental Residency [+] program. It has been a wonderful experience learning the different ways mentorship can happen. Before going through the program, my idea of mentorship was very unimaginative. All I really heard about was people finding a good match for an associateship so you could have someone teach you all their wisdom and experience as you grew into who you were as a dentist. While that is a great way to be mentored, I have realized mentorship comes in many forms.

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24b, NIV).

Imago dei: the idea that each human being is made in the image and likeness of God. Now, more than ever, I believe we as dental professionals should be embodying this idea in our everyday lives—not only remembering who we are in the Father’s eyes, but also remembering that each of our patients was intentionally, uniquely and wonderfully made by a loving Father.

Imago dei: the idea that each human being is made in the image and likeness of God. Now, more than ever, I believe we as dental professionals should be embodying this idea in our everyday lives—not only remembering who we are in the Father’s eyes, but also remembering that each of our patients was intentionally, uniquely and wonderfully made by a loving Father.

When mission teams were going to China, it was always important for us to understand the cultural, political and power structures in the countries we were serving.

Have you been frustrated or angry with anything in the last year? Maybe a better question would be, “How many times have you been frustrated or angry in the last year,” because it was a doozy. Over the course of 2020, God helped me wrestle through a lot of those frustrating things. I thought I’d grown past the point of letting the continued craziness get to me. I recently realized, however, that though I have grown spiritually this year through handling difficulties in my life and the world around me, I have also become apathetic at times as well. I realized my decreased response to bad news wasn’t necessarily maturity but born apathy of being tired of it all. God convicted me of this reality when someone was giving me a news update last week. I just nodded and tuned them out, because in my mind it was just more bad news, and I didn’t want to know more because I didn’t want to have to think about it.

“…Fear God and keep his commandments…” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, NIV).

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:8-11, KJV).

The topic of slavery and racism couldn’t be more relevant in this age of social justice we are in right now. It goes without saying that racism is evil. Genesis 1:27 makes very clear that all are created in the image of God. The image of God, or Imago Dei in Latin, refers to the fact that humans were made uniquely and separately from all the rest of creation in a way that reflects God’s image in our moral, spiritual and intellectual essence. It means that in certain aspects, and in an imperfect sense, we resemble God. It is because we are image bearers of God that our lives have intrinsic worth, and this of course goes for all humans. It is precisely because we are made in God’s image that racism is evil. Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about this frequently as the basis for civil rights. He argued that the brotherhood of man is dependent upon the fatherhood of God. Reject the latter and you erode the foundation of the former.

“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13, KJV).

For most of us on the planet, life has been turned upside down over the last few months. An event that no one (or possibly very few) living today personally remember has taken the world by storm, and many are struggling to adjust to a new way of life. Society appears to be fragmenting, not just across the country but around the globe. Just before all these things began, I moved to Kenya to start a dental clinic in a rural mission hospital. This is something that has been on my heart for many years. I have been here a few months tackling Swahili, and now I am working to acquire materials and doing administrative groundwork for the clinic. There are many days when I feel like I’m running an uphill marathon.

As healthcare professionals, we know our patients have brains, we know they have hearts. We know these exist because we can see them and study them. They are physical, they are material. But is there a part of us that is immaterial, or is this just a lie we’ve bought into? If so, how can we possibly know it?

If you’re reading this, you already know this is a big and extremely relevant problem for the vast majority of dental and medical graduates under the age of 45. It’s not uncommon these days to graduate dental school with $300,000+ in debt. Heck, I have friends who graduated with close to $500,000 in debt (and when I say friends, I may or may not be referring to myself). This isn’t news.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all you heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24, NIV 1984).