I could write pages about all the little things that, from an early age, may have predicted my desire to enter the dental profession. After all, it is not everyday that a grade-school girl asks those at a family party to “open wide” so she can examine their molars or collects her baby teeth in a special plastic box to periodically examine their smooth contours. Even my continuous need for hands-on work with ceramic or oil painting projects, making it nearly impossible to paint my nails before high-school dances due to cracked nails and paint stains, might have been an indication. Yet, as I sit here pondering how to describe my motivation in a mere 550 words, I realize that it is not only those aspects of dentistry that I initially admired that continue to inspire me today. For, although I am still drawn to the manual artistry and scientific focus of the field, these are not the thoughts that keep me going through long nights in the library or summer afternoons at the dental clinic. Indeed, I have discovered that it is the patient-oriented nature and service to others that the field involves that truly captures my interest and spurs me forward towards achieving my lifelong goal. Through my volunteering and shadowing experiences at an urban dental clinic, I have reflected upon both the people skills that this profession necessitates as well as the potential for service work that it holds.

Throughout college, both during the summer and breaks, I have volunteered at a mobile dental clinic in underserved urban areas. In observing the relationships the volunteer dentist builds with his patients, I am pleasantly surprised by the levels of trust and support involved. Unlike a simple physician-patient relationship, a dentist is privileged to act as a confidant for his patients while easing their pain. Whether asking after his patients’ families or inquiring about their recent project at work, the dentist seemed as much a friend as a professional, creating an enjoyable environment for his patients. With this trust comes an obligation, not only to comfort patients, but also to be understanding of their needs. Through my experiences with many Hispanic emigrants and refugee families, I have witnessed the tangible impact of dental services and the effects poverty can have on one’s oral health for the first time. Whether their lack of dental hygiene was due to unawareness or an inability to afford supplies is unclear, but the sadness of this situation impressed it in my mind and made me even more firmly grounded in my choice of dentistry as both a career and an avenue for service.

As I continue in my pre-dental education, it is not only the image of the patients I have encountered, but also the service of compassion that this profession provides that keeps me focused. This is not to say that I have lost the enthusiasm for dentistry that once manifested itself through tooth collections and art projects, but I like to think that I have realized the clichéd “bigger picture.” Dentistry can be of service both to me, as I indulge my loves of art and science, and to others, epitomizing compassion and social concern.