office visit Your father's dental clinic seems to have greatly influenced your career path. Tell us about your family and your road to becoming a dentist. I grew up in a dental family, but I was never pushed or drawn to dentistry. My father didn't inspire me to be a great dentist; he inspired me to try to be a great person. 66 AUGUST 2018 // dentaltown.com I spent a lot of time after school in my father's lab. He'd hand me a Bic lighter and a roach carver and leave me to my own supervision. Back then, that was just fun parenting; today, he'd be on 60 Minutes. He saved all the dragons and odd sculptures I made then and gave them to me as my dental school graduation gift. I will always treasure those. My father was a dentist, my mother was a hygienist, my uncle was an orthodontist and, for a short while, my aunt was a dental technician. Meanwhile, all I ever wanted to do was write plays, poetry and short stories. I was three credits away from an English degree when I pulled a 180 and threw myself into sciences and toward dental school. I thought that I would have all of this free time to pursue my writing and make a good living.http://www.dentaltown.com