Beyond the Chair: A Conversation with Dr. Reece
Get to know Dr. Reece on a deeper level through a candid conversation with a dental student who shadowed her in the office. Whether you choose to read or listen, you'll hear Dr. Reece's perspective on patient care, her journey in dentistry, and what drives her passion for helping people smile with confidence.
Read Interview Transcript
00:00:00.000 Why did you decide to go into your current profession? I decided to go into dentistry because I knew that I wanted to go into something into the health field when I was in high school. And I had an amazing guidance counselor who kind of took all the things into account that I wanted to still have a family. I wanted to be present for my family. And I enjoyed making relationships with people.
00:00:25.000 And so he recommended that I shadow at a dental office, and he had a friend, actually, who was a dentist, but in the way that he recommended having still a health profession, but something that I wouldn't be on call, that I could still have that support to be able to be with my family and not be easily drawn away from them of being on call, and also building relationships in a dental office where it's more common to have routine visits. So you get to have patients that come back and see you.
00:00:53.000 You get to kind of grow, they kind of grow, you grow with them as they come back for regular appointments. So those are two of the things that he had recommended. And I kind of just a smile shares a lot about a person, and I enjoy smiling, and I think that's contagious. That was my main interest. Now my focus has probably changed into more like health oriented, but that's originally why I started. I wanted to help people, and I wanted to have a family.
00:01:20.000 And in his advice of me being in high school, that would be a good direction to maybe so I did job shadow and I worked for a dentist for a summer after high school and just kind of fell in love with it. So then I found jobs to work in dental offices until I got into dental school. Tell me about your educational experiences. Educational experiences were pretty positive. I mean, I went to UNL for my undergrad and knowing that I was going into pre-dentistry, just like you have a kind of a route, like you knew you were going to go into it.
00:01:52.000 And then went into UNMC, the College of Dentistry at Lincoln. And I think it was a really great experience for me in general. I did do a program that was a tuition reimbursement. I had thought that I was working in a clinic kind of in central Western Nebraska that qualified for that. And that kind of fell through.
00:02:15.000 And I ended up in a public health clinic, which was also a very great experience, but realized that it wasn't the area that I wanted to stay and continue in. And I had an opportunity that was kind of unique of having spent some time in Alaska and enjoyed that place and wanted to be able to get back there and thought that was a good break after my contract kind of ended with the public health that it would be a good time to go to Alaska. And so I got into private practice there. And so I was an associate dentist for 10 years.
00:02:45.000 So education, academia was here in Nebraska. I learned a lot just being in the practice, in a private practice. But continuing education is where I feel like I've learned the most in general. You know Academia through dental college gives you a great base, but there's so much more to learn, just kind of what you've experienced in the practice. Like A lot of those things weren't things that were really necessarily covered. And there's so much to cover you know in general dentistry.
00:03:16.000 So finding kind of a route that you feel passionate about, that's where I've always led me in the continuing educations that I've attended, which has kind of developed me into the dentist that I am today. So I am an eternal learner. I never stopped learning. There's an amount of CE credits that you have to have every year or every couple of years and I exceed that by tenfold or more. It's just that I enjoy learning more and it just really helps me to feel motivated to keep doing what I'm doing when I'm knowing and providing a great service for my patients.
00:03:48.000 What advice would you give someone like myself interested in this profession? Just observing in other offices, finding things that are interesting to you, asking more questions, you know getting experience in places that are going to prepare you for dental school, but the real world. I think that when you go into dental school and you're in this track of academia and doing the lessons, you don't get to see everything from the outside world of what's going on.
00:04:17.000 So I think when you learn things about that, when you're seeing things in other practices and when you're kind of in the real world of dentistry, it helps you to bring that into your education when you're going through classes and courses in dental school and make some connections. And I think that's really great. Like the whole biology of the body and growth and development, all of those things, like those quality core things help you to learn more about the order and the nature and the biology of the body.
00:04:47.000 And I think that makes a huge impact on relatability to dentistry. Because as you've seen in this practice, dentistry isn't just about teeth. You know It's about more than that. So having that mindset and kind of wrapping that around of why these courses are beneficial to you, but you're going through school, I think, is valuable. What problems or challenges do you encounter in your profession? I think that there's, I guess, challenges would be more so the people, the relativeness to the people, patients, and maybe the business aspect.
00:05:20.000 So I did see, I think something came through about the UNMC is offering some sort of a business program. That was kind of cool that they're doing. I think this summer there might be doing some type of Yeah, I think they're starting it next year. Like You can get your MBA along with your dental degree or you can do a public health aspect like a master's in public health. That's cool. That they're doing that because I think that you know there's a portion of that and there's some that's talked about in dental school.
00:05:47.000 But I think everyone that comes out of dental school feels like they could have nothing can prepare you enough for running a business when your focus is on providing the services, you know the healthcare in general. So that, I think, has been a challenge. And I was an associate for 10 years before I became a business owner.
00:06:12.000 So there was a lot of things that I learned that I did want to do when I became a business owner, but there's a lot of things that I learned that I didn't want to do when I became a business owner. So part of that is just experience of being in the field. But I think it's great to have some preparation and some resources and just a support group that you can reach back on you know so you don't feel like you're alone, like trying to do something and wondering what everyone else is doing around you and being able to have some support of people that can guide you through those types of things. So if they have a program for that, that's amazing.
00:06:41.000 But I would say that's one of the challenges. I've adopted a business coach, and that's been really helpful for me. And the reason I chose that business coach was in a way that I wanted to be able to make my life centered around my family and then be able to have my business revolve around that as opposed to my whole family life and my personal life to revolve around my business. You know Especially where being the business owner, you can be your own hardest boss in that fashion.
00:07:11.000 But that would be one of the challenges. And then patient interactions. And I think that just comes with experience and being able to interact with patients and be open-minded about what they're going through when they're coming into your practice and being able to be very welcoming and encouraging and the positivity of what type of resource you can provide them with.
00:07:36.000 And I think as opposed to just feeling like they're coming in to you to fix this problem and you must you know looking at it more of the opportunities that are available, you know the opportunities that you could do to serve someone and just help to get them optimal health. I think that's kind of a big focus of the philosophy of our practice. So when you kind of rewire your brain to make it think that you are and just what your service is and what your goal is to meet patients with like-minded goals and help to bring them to health.
00:08:09.000 I think it just uplifts everyone that you're working with and kind of helps you prevent from being down or feeling bogged down. So just developing those relationships are really huge in a dental practice. What advice would you share about your undergraduate or professional school? I think just using the resources that are available to you.
00:08:31.000 That you are still taking your studies seriously but also developing some self-care in that so you're not overwhelmed that it's just something that's really that it stresses you out to the max that you take time for yourself because you're going to have to do that when you become a professional too. I mean, there's a point where you know that you are working hard, but I think a way of working smarter is a big deal too.
00:08:59.000 So I think making sure that you're taking care of yourself and that when there's resources out there that you are utilizing them if they're providing resources for you in the academia. Like I mean, in undergrad, especially when there are things that I didn't quite understand or I didn't feel like I was well-prepared for from high school going to undergrad. I utilized that office hours for professors on a regular basis and being able to just get more exposure, but also more connections.
00:09:28.000 I think when you collaborate with other students to be able to it makes things easier and more accountable. Like You don't feel like you're so overwhelmed, but you also have someone that's cheering you on. So I think that's great to find like-minded people and positive people around you that uplift you. Why did you choose to be a general dentist and decide not to specialize?
00:09:50.000 I say this, I don't know if this is necessarily I say it's because I was burned out and I didn't want to go to school anymore but I considered being a pediatric dentist mostly because I think maybe because I just like development, like being able to help optimally change a growth pattern, something like start early and help a child's growth be more impactful or I guess more optimal by being more impactful at a younger age.
00:10:23.000 And I considered oral surgery because I just thought that I kind of enjoyed that type of thing. But when I got into private practice, I felt like all of that was open to me. Like All of those things I could still do and I could kind of choose a pathway and not be set on one track because dentistry as a whole is very comprehensive you know related to oral health related to the whole body, which is part of our philosophy here.
00:10:54.000 And I feel like sometimes we get so compartmentalized that you can only see your one track and remembering that the human body is so amazing and it's all connected and everything affects something else. And so trying to stay connected with that by being able to adapt so many different parts of the practice into something general as far as specializing. Like I appreciate specialists. I appreciate the people that know something very, so very well and they're so very readily available to do one thing really, really well.
00:11:27.000 But in my world, I guess I appreciate being able to seek education on all different aspects that apply to it. And it helps me to solve problems. I enjoy that portion. In your opinion, what is the most rewarding aspect or benefit of being a dentist? I think there's a few of the aspects that I think are super rewarding. One is in the aspect of dental health and oral health, it's so very it's just critical, life-changing in what we're doing, the things that we're doing in this practice, I feel.
00:11:58.000 And life-changing is a common phrase that we hear from our patients. Whether that be from helping them to eat better, helping them to smile, you know and be confident in their smile, helping them to breathe better, helping them to you know sleep, like all these different things that they might not think is quite related to teeth that is all encompassing of their oral health.
00:12:24.000 I think that that kind of motivates me in general of the things that we're doing. So that's super rewarding as far as what we're doing and helping from infants to when we're doing tongue tie releases and just you know that immediate relationship and a bond between a mom and a baby breastfeeding and the stress and the newness that comes with that and being helped to talk moms, you know talk with moms and help them to realize that this is not their fault.
00:12:54.000 Like this is something you know in those initial stages of they're bringing life into the world and they want to make sure they're doing everything right. Those are very intimate moments with those moms and babies. And even their mindset maybe can't even grasp the impact that it's making on that infant child just for their growth and development all the way through you know when our focus is more on the breastfeeding relationship and then all the things that come from it of restoring health. But just following the growth and development, like the impact that we can make in people's health.
00:13:24.000 And I think that's so important and so critical. That's super rewarding. Also, I mean, in the aspect of it's something that I'm continuously working on, but the ability to be a practice owner, the ability to have the flexibility of having your own business if it's something you desire or the flexibility of having the schedule that you desire, partly being a business owner in that aspect.
00:13:54.000 But there's so much there's so many opportunities or ways that you could go in dentistry. You could be a solo practitioner. You can be a partner and you could be part of a corporation. I think there's some flexible opportunities within it and that you can kind of design it the way that you want. And I feel like that's something that I've been learning and that kind of I'm kind of making that happen at this point in time.
00:14:22.000 So I think that's rewarding of being able to have the opportunity to do something that you want, to feel confident about what you're doing, and to be able to have that impact of knowing that you're changing people's lives and getting that opportunity to share that relationship with people and see how they progress and improve. I love that. So what characteristic or personality trait do you believe is most important as a dentist? I think it's more about caring.
00:14:51.000 That's originally what I went into this field for. And when you bring it back to the basics of a high schooler trying to decide where I wanted to go and help people you know and knowing that I liked the science and the biology and the body and those types of things. I think it is caring about that person.
00:15:08.000 You are addressing that person as a population of one and it is the confidence that you build by knowing that you have skills that can help this person and that you can foresee what benefit they could achieve from what resources you're providing them and just being truthful about it.
00:15:34.000 I think just acknowledging what's there, sharing that you are a trustworthy person that wants to help them and that is your goal because that's what you went into this profession for. Just individual care for people and then acknowledging that you have the skill set, that you've been educated with the skill set to be able to provide that. That's, I think, probably the skill that I think is most important. Relationship skills because you can learn as much technique as you want.
00:16:05.000 But when you have the basis core of caring about someone, you're just going to do the right thing for them. So I think that's really important.
