Having a mentor, learning and growing, and making a difference for others really can make you feel like a kid again.
So if you’re a little like me (and that can be scary), you might remember a certain dynamic that used to happen way back when you were just a kid.
Maybe you went totally outa your way innovating new approaches that would annoy the cutest, smartest little third grade girl in class. But instead of making “annoying” a career, some changes happened somewhere during the Father Serra’s California Missions project and that little pigtail genius morphed into your first crush. And even though that first crush hit about 153-rodeos ago, I just realized it happened again.
To say I despised dental school would be a little like saying I find UCLA bruin football slightly too nuanced for my delicate sensibilities; it would be the freakin’ understatement of the years dating back to the Carter Administration. I began D-school more confident than the Fonz on Friday night but quickly began believing I was the undeserving little maggot the guys in the white shoes, white belts, and white coats said I was (and this was BEFORE Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket.)
And during my four-year journey, it was awesome learning new skills and appreciating the growth you could see happening over the days, weeks, and months; it was exciting. I just wasn’t expecting the daily verbal beat-downs and the too often absence of any real mentoring within a culture where some sign of humor might get you 8-years to life in Folsom. So I was probably a negative, frustrated, little jackass the day we began bending wires around plaster teeth. And I sure did hate orthodontics; like high school typing class, I’m not really sure how I ever made it through.
But Orthodontics would later make a major difference for me. My Nazi Occlusion professor had described my smile as “train wreck”- thanks for sharing! (Years later I did exact revenge when I referred a sociopath to his office down in Newport Beach. Did I mention I’m half-Sicilian?) Anyway, my care made a major difference for my confidence and people really can listen to you and even hear you when you’re not hiding behind your hand.
Never dreamed I’d ever provide orthodontic care. But one fine day back in 2003, against all odds, I got myself certified to provide Invisalign orthodontic care. And some 12-years later, I found a true mentor.
Thanks to Dr. David Galler and his Reingage program, my colleagues and I get learn as a family. I just got back from Dallas and two amazing days spent with like-minded Docs who get to enjoy quality time learning the latest and enjoying the process. And there might be smarter DDS-types out there; just haven’t met one. And Doc Galler has all of the requirements beyond being the smartest, most creative guy in the room. He’s committed 100% to making a difference for others; if he was just a little older, his generosity would be legendary.
And even though it might sound like it, I don’t have a serious crush on Galler; but I do have a crush coming straight out of left field. After all these years, I have a long-shot crush on orthodontics and providing clear aligner care with Invisalign. And I might add, being excited about learning and making a difference is the stuff that can keep you young (and it takes some of the pressure off of having to be immature all of the time.)
The day before I left for Dallas, I followed up on a patient who’d actually been diagnosed by another patient…at Starbucks. Luis had suffered headaches for years; the headaches frequently made it difficult for him to focus…while managing freakin’ major hotels. We used an appliance to stabilize Luis’ headaches and then went about aligning his teeth to transform the way his jaw, muscles, and teeth functioned. It’s been about five years and Luis confessed he now has maybe two headaches per year…that disappear with a massage.
A few weeks ago, we also finished a case for an 82-year old nun. And since day one of Catechism when I was about 7-years old, I’ve never stopped appreciating Sisters with sunny attitudes and beautiful smiles.
Thanks to amazing people like Dr. Galler, we get to make a major difference for friends and family. And I think when my dad was writing those checks to the University of Southern California; that’s what he was hoping for.
