A Note to Our Readers:

The New Dentist Committee is happy to announce that this will be the first of a regularly occurring page that considers the special issues facing dentists in their first ten years of practice.  Look to this page for upcoming events, profiles, special interest pieces, and a little fun. Did you graduate more than ten years ago?  Read this anyway! There are always opportunities for learning and participation for dentists young and young at heart.

Julie Clouse, D.D.S.*

Dentistry Outside the Operatory

The first years of dental practice are undoubtedly busy. The transition from a school setting to one in which you are in control of your dental destiny can be fraught with stress and unease while learning to manage staff, master clinical skills, and balance work with a healthy lifestyle. Add that to changing family situations — marriages/partnerships, children, and more — and it is enough to keep one busy for the next two decades! Yet many dentists still find time to donate their skills and time to worthwhile causes. 

Volunteering does not always need to involve slogging through a malaria-ridden jungle to teach hygiene and provide care to humans who have never seen a set of scrubs before (though it is fun!). Have you ever considered visiting a local nursing home to provide denture hygiene instruction to the staff and residents? How about visiting a local elementary school to teach students the proper way to brush? Usually all it takes is a single phone call and an hour of planning to pull off a worthwhile event. For the more adventurous, there are short-term dental missions that are ideal for those who have an interest in traveling to new (and often exotic) places, meeting new people, and using their skills in a non-traditional setting. There are also a number of volunteer-operated clinics found statewide. They are more than happy to have new faces to help out.

Here is a sampling of opportunities from around (and outside) the state! Time commitments can vary from a couple of hours to a week to as much as you care to consider. Be creative. Remember, rarely will anyone turn down a helpful hand. Make a New Year’s resolution and put a smile on some new faces!

Salvation Army’s Good Samaritan Dental Clinic
Rochester, MN (507) 529-4100

The Open Door Health Center
 Mankato, MN (507) 388-2120

Minnesota Dental Association’s Give Kids A Smile
Statewide MDA event.
www.mndental.org

Union Gospel Mission   
Saint Paul, MN (651) 228-1800, ext. 300

Dental Missions
www.missionfinder.org

SCTC Community Dental Clinic
St. Cloud, MN (320) 308-5310

Christina’s Smile
www.csmile.com

New Dentist Doings

Captain Docia Togstad (Minnesota ’03) has returned to Minnesota after serving three years (active duty) in the Army at Fort Riley, Kansas.

Gary Hedin (Minnesota ’04) continues to evade boredom by playing the stones on a curling team and has aspirations of becoming a DJ.

Phil Wadkins (Minnesota ‘00) has kept busy refereeing soccer games during the past year.

Woody Kwon (Minnesota ’02) spends monthly weekends with the Minnesota National guard. He is a new daddy too; welcome baby Daniel!

 

Did somebody do something interesting? Please let me know! My e-mail is masterjulz@hotmail.com.

New Dentist Calendar of Events

• February 28. Transition Seminar Series: Contract Negotiation.
Open to D4 and New Dentists. University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, 5:00-6:30. 

• April 10. Third Annual New Dentist Ideas Exchange Seminar.
Award-winning program available for dentists who graduated from
1997-2007. Enjoy networking, dinner, and drinks while learning about the successes and mistakes of practicing dentistry. Registration is within the Star of North Meeting Program (P823).

• June 26-28. Twenty-second Annual American Dental Association New Dentist Conference: Jazzed in New Orleans. To be held at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. Join new dentists from all over the country while spending time in the Big Easy. Ten CE credits will be earned during the course of the conference. Please visit the ADA website for more details.

 

*Dr.Clouse is chair of the Minnesota Dental Association’s New Dentist Committee. She is a general dentist in private practice in New Brighton, Minnesota. E-mail is
masterjulz@hotmail.com.