Blogs

The soldier in the photo with me is Dr. Nick Studer, an officer and MD at Brooks AF Base in San Antonio. He is an ER doctor. He was my assistant for the Remote Areas Medical Clinic that was held at Chua Vien Thong Tu Buddhist Temple here in West Houston. There were more MD volunteers and not enough dental assistants:) Nick had done a rotation with the Army oral surgeons so he felt pretty comfortable coming over to help out. He did a great job!

Last week I was in Laredo with the Medical Missionaries of Devine Mercy from St Laurence Catholic Church. Great group! Their purpose is to provide medical and dental care to those in need. They have two annual mission trips, one to Laredo and the other to Costa Rica. In Laredo they work out of San Luis Rey Catholic Church. The local churches, Catholic Charities and the local news makes the public aware of the event. Hundreds of people get helped with a variety of issues from toothaches to vision to diabetes testing. The group has been going to Laredo for 10 years.

Over the last few years we have seen several of the more mature dental practices in town pass out of the hands of some really great doctors. Drs. Lamar Meadows, Gary Finch, Beverly Thetford, and Lloyd Hartman are a few recent retirees that come to mind.

Five years! I have been traveling to Rockwall every month for over 5 years now! In 2013 Robert Allen gave me the opportunity to assist in teaching his 12 session class for the Academy of GP Orthodontics in Rockwall. It has been a tremendous experience. We’ve all heard the saying “watch one, do one, teach one”. Well, being involved in teaching this class has really helped me to understand Differential Straight Wire (Tip Edge) Orthodontics. I’ve also meet a lot of great people. Dr. Allen’s approach to orthodontics has taught me a lot.