My desire to pursue dental education and contribute to preventive care

Personal Statement

Why I desire to pursue a dental education and how a dental degree will contribute to my personal and professional goals

Smile!" it's one of the first instructions we learn to obey as a child. We are told to smile when we meet someone and to smile at the camera. So why do so many people fear the dentist? A dentist is a health professional that helps people have smiles that are white, bright, and above all healthy. Dental health affects every person's overall physical health and self-esteem, often in invisible ways. Untreated gingivitis can cause periodontitis, tooth loss and may even increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Simply looking at a person's mouth and reviewing a patient's dental history can reveal a great deal about that person's diet. Does the patient consume too many sugary soft drinks? Even stress can be revealed to the eyes of a careful dentist, when the dentist realizes that a patient unknowingly grinds his or her teeth at night. A dentist thus can provide critical advice as to how to improve a patient's overall physical and psychological health, as well as help the patient practice better preventative oral care.

The world of dentistry today is particularly exciting because of the new technological improvements the profession has witnessed in recent years. As a child, I remember seeing an elderly friend of my grandmother put her dentures in a glass for cleaning. Now such uncomfortable equipment is almost unheard of, in a world of dental implants. The sophistication of x-rays to detect dental problems in their earliest stages has increased exponentially.