My personal interest in dentistry and how I ended up in Juneau, AK

Ever since my first retainer, I have known that dentistry would be an integral part of my life. Throughout the years, it seemed I was always at the dentist's office - whether it was for a routine cleaning, a new retainer, a puffy gumline, or eventually, my dental implants - I always seemed to be drawn to smell of mint toothpaste and latex gloves. While others dreaded their annual visits to the dentist, I embraced the uniqueness of the profession. When I was a senior in high school, I had the opportunity to do an eight-week internship with a professional in the St. Louis area. I elected to work with varying dental specialists to explore each aspect of the multi-layered profession.

My eight-week internship was a unique learning experience. I studied all aspects of the dental profession – from patient appointments to filling to billing and, of course, patient care. One thing that struck me was that, despite the difference in specialties, all of the dental offices followed the same basic model of care. Patient comes, patient leaves, and patient makes another appointment. Repeat as needed. While this system works well for large metropolitan areas such as St. Louis, I could not help but wonder how it would differ for a part of the world where technology and medicine were not only not as advanced, but also not as readily available.

I was working with Dr. Samuel McKenna in the Vanderbilt Oral Surgery Clinic last semester when we began discussing my Ingram Scholars Summer Project. I described the summer project and how I wanted to focus my project around an issue pertaining to dentistry. I explained I was convinced that the best way to work with dental care was to leave the United States and work in a third world country where dental care must be an absolute novelty. Little did I know that there was a similar situation right here in the United States. Dr. McKenna explained that dentistry in Alaska differed entirely from most other models in the continental United States.

I found this compelling for multiple reasons. First, it would be interesting to compare health delivery systems in the United States and further, the opportunity to work with those with a different set of cultural beliefs than me would be interesting as well. I began to research dental clinics through Indian Health Services (Continuing Dental Education), and eventually found SEARHC – a consortium of dental and medical clinics in Southeast Alaska.