Finding Joy in Dentistry: Dr. Elaine's Journey from Childhood Dream to Composite Veneer Mastery
While most twelve-year-olds choose snow days for sledding and snowball fights, young Elaine chose to spend her free time in her father's dental practice—filing charts, chairside assisting, and cleaning rooms. This early passion wasn't the result of parental pressure but a genuine fascination with the profession that would ultimately shape her career.
In a recent episode of The Dental Handoff podcast, Dr. Elaine shared her unique journey with host Dr. Kelly Tanner, offering insights into finding purpose in dentistry, mastering composite veneers, and creating the work-life balance that brings her joy.
A Calling Discovered Early
"I grew up knowing that I love dentistry. I love the dental office," Dr. Elaine explains. What captivated her wasn't just the technical aspects but witnessing the profound impact her father had on patients' lives. "My dad's patients come in and they're like, 'He has changed my entire life. I'm so grateful for your dad.'"
While her friends questioned this early career certainty, Dr. Elaine stood firm in her dental aspirations—though she briefly considered following her mother's path as a software engineer. A "take your child to work day" with her mother, spent whispering in a cubicle for eight hours, solidified her decision. Despite her talent for coding (evidenced by her meticulously programmed MySpace page), the environment didn't energize her the way a dental practice did.
"That was the day that I knew I have to be a dentist," she recalls. "When most people see me as a dentist, they're like, this is the field for you."
Transitioning from Student to Practitioner
Unlike many new graduates who pursue additional training or associateships, Dr. Elaine went directly into practice after dental school. This confidence came from her lifetime of exposure to dentistry and the security of having her father as a mentor.
"I felt like I was ready to go right after dental school, straight in," she says. "I would recommend to anyone who wants to take that plunge and just go straight into practice, is I did have a mentor because I work with my dad."
This mentorship proved vital not for clinical skills but for navigating the aspects of practice not taught in dental school—team dynamics, business operations, and leadership. "The dentistry is not necessarily the hard part. It's kind of being a part of that team culture," she notes.
Dr. Elaine's first five years focused primarily on perfecting her clinical abilities. Now, she's transitioning into leadership roles within the practice, preparing for the day her father will no longer be actively involved.
The Balancing Act of Clinical Excellence
The challenge of balancing focused clinical work with other practice responsibilities resonates with many dentists. Dr. Elaine candidly describes the difficulty of transitioning between complex procedures and patient examinations:
"I'm knuckles deep in a root canal and I cannot find this extra canal and I'm sweating and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, this is so difficult.' And then I have to get up and be like, 'Hi, Mrs. Jones, it's so good to see you.'"
This compartmentalization becomes easier with experience and growing clinical confidence. As Dr. Elaine explains, "I have become a better clinician in the past few years... Things go really smoothly now that maybe wouldn't have a few years back."
Her unique perspective comes from having worked nearly every position in a dental practice throughout her life—reception, assisting, and now dentistry. This comprehensive understanding allows her to see challenges from multiple viewpoints, creating empathy for team members' experiences.
"For any young dentist or prospective dentist watching, learn the other parts of the office and actually work them and see what it's like," she advises.
Finding a Niche: The Art of Composite Veneers
While Dr. Elaine's practice offers comprehensive care—from implants and gum surgery to orthodontics and endodontics—she's found particular joy in cosmetic procedures, especially composite veneers.
"We are most known for our composite veneers," she shares. "We'll actually have patients sometimes travel to us for that procedure." What makes this specialty particularly rewarding is the direct creative control: "With the composite, I'm building it myself. And so I know that it's my vision created on the patient's mouth."
Her approach to smile design reflects this hands-on philosophy. Rather than relying solely on automated programs, Dr. Elaine uses Photoshop to create custom smile designs—a technique inspired by renowned dentist Ed McLaren but adapted to her personal style.
"I can take someone's photo onto my computer and then I can go in and play with the shapes of the teeth to show them what it will look like," she explains. This approach allows patients to see her artistic vision taking shape in real time, building confidence in the treatment plan.
The process takes just five minutes but creates a powerful visual aid that helps manage expectations and ensures alignment between the patient's desires and clinical possibilities. "I can have a conversation with them of 'here's what I see myself doing, but really you need a gum lift and here's why.'"
The Wax-Up Weekend Warrior
What truly sets Dr. Elaine's technique apart is her commitment to hand-waxing each case on weekends. Using her Photoshop designs as guides, she creates three-dimensional wax-ups on stone models—a labor-intensive process that many dentists might outsource to labs or digital workflows.
"I know there's faster ways to do it, but I like to have that control over the case," she explains. "I don't want a lab to do it. I don't want a computer program to do it. I want to do it because I know it's in my head and I can figure it out."
This meticulous approach ensures predictability and eliminates potential frustrations with laboratory work. "I never have to send something back," she notes. "If there's something that we don't like, I just fix it right there. The patient never leaves without something in their mouth."
For dentists interested in developing similar skills, Dr. Elaine's advice is straightforward but challenging: "Learn to do it in wax. Do your wax-ups—don't send it. The wax-up is the practice round."
She acknowledges this is tedious work that not every dentist will embrace—"I don't always love spending my weekends at the dental office doing wax-ups"—but believes this deliberate practice has been fundamental to her success.
The Evolution of Practice Philosophy
Perhaps the most valuable insight from Dr. Elaine's journey is her evolving approach to procedure selection. Rather than constantly expanding her clinical repertoire, she's learning to focus on procedures that bring her satisfaction while referring others.
"I'm starting to scale back. Instead of adding procedures and trying to take on more, I'm actually starting to realize which ones bring me joy that I can focus on and then which ones stress me out a little bit."
This self-awareness has led to greater professional fulfillment. "A very exciting thing in my life is I learned that if it's a straightforward root canal, I'll do it. But once it starts having multiple canals, I'm like, 'You know what? Let's get you over to the specialist.'"
This approach—focusing on procedures that align with personal strengths and preferences—echoes advice Dr. Tanner offers to dental professionals experiencing burnout: identify what aspects of practice bring satisfaction and which create stress, then adjust accordingly.
As Dr. Elaine puts it: "Pay attention to what lights you up in your life and know that at any time you can pivot on that and use that as your power to say, 'I'm not choosing that anymore.'"
The Art and Heart of Dentistry
Dr. Elaine's story reminds us that the most fulfilling dental careers often combine technical expertise with personal passion. From the twelve-year-old who chose dental charts over snow days to the accomplished practitioner creating custom smiles, her journey demonstrates how following what "lights you up" leads to both clinical excellence and professional satisfaction.
By maintaining control over artistic elements that matter most to her while delegating procedures that don't bring the same joy, she's crafted a practice approach that honors both the science and art of dentistry—creating beautiful results for patients while preserving the enthusiasm that drew her to the profession in the first place.
Keywords: Composite veneers, cosmetic dentistry, dental career path, work-life balance, smile design, wax-up technique, dental mentorship, procedural selection, dental joy, family dental practice, dental leadership, The Dental Handoff podcast