My dental career started in 1987 as a freshman at Columbia University SDOS.
Standing in the orientation room, crowded with long white coats and a tad of trepidation, I truly did not know what to expect. I only knew that I was in the company of a group of others who shared a common goal…or did we?
While it is true that all in attendance that day had the intention of graduating four years later with a DDS degree, I realize now that we were not all there for the same reasons.
Some of us were there for the love. Some of us were there for the money. Some of us were even there because we felt obligated…that was me.
Over the years, many patients asked what got me interested in dentistry.
In truth, I was never interested in dentistry but rather encouraged to follow in family footsteps.
Imagine my surprise ten years later, to find myself standing in front of my own practice in the Spring of 1997. Even more surprising was the fact that this Jersey girl was opening her practice in Charlotte, North Carolina!
I remember the day my ex husband told me we were moving to North Carolina and I remember my response sounding something like this…“You must be kidding me! Do you know I’ll need to take another board exam?”
(Yes..that was in the days before reciprocity! …but I digress..)
So… I passed the NC State board exam and received a phone call from Thompson Dental Company shortly thereafter. They asked me where I wanted to set up my new practice and assured me that if I built it, they would come.
They were right.
I built it. Word of mouth spread. And as predicted, the patients came.
But they stayed for something else entirely.
You see, this dentist who never wanted to be a dentist, became a dentist because she always knew that she was an Artist.
And so it was on that day, ten years after graduation and standing at the threshold of my
practice, that I set my intention.
Excellence was a given. Artistry was a gift.
Kindness was a choice.
With Love,
Dr. Betty