Ever wondered what led a successful dentist to choose their career path and how they tackle some of the common misconceptions about their profession? Hop on board as we converse with Dr. Veena Bhat from North Fulton Smiles, an Alpharetta-based dental practice, who shares with us her intriguing journey into the world of dentistry. From her childhood fascination with loose baby teeth to her passion for science, art, and human interaction, Dr. Bhat gives us a deep insight into why dentistry was her chosen path. Her experiences in dental school in Chicago and her residency in San Francisco, before finally setting up her practice in Atlanta, make for a compelling story.
One of the highlights of the chat was Dr. Bhat addressing myths and misconceptions about dentistry and dental health. She lays emphasis on the importance of preventative care and timely interventions, debunking the myth that dental services are an 'as-needed' healthcare service. She brilliantly explains why restorative dentistry is essential and why it's crucial to maintain our teeth just like any other part of our body. If you've ever been curious about the inner workings of a dentist's mind and practice, this episode is sure to enlighten you!
Ever wondered what led a successful dentist to choose their career path and how they tackle some of the common misconceptions about their profession? Hop on board as we converse with Dr. Veena Bhat from North Fulton Smiles, an Alpharetta-based dental practice, who shares with us her intriguing journey into the world of dentistry. From her childhood fascination with loose baby teeth to her passion for science, art, and human interaction, Dr. Bhat gives us a deep insight into why dentistry was her chosen path. Her experiences in dental school in Chicago and her residency in San Francisco, before finally setting up her practice in Atlanta, make for a compelling story.
One of the highlights of the chat was Dr. Bhat addressing myths and misconceptions about dentistry and dental health. She lays emphasis on the importance of preventative care and timely interventions, debunking the myth that dental services are an 'as-needed' healthcare service. She brilliantly explains why restorative dentistry is essential and why it's crucial to maintain our teeth just like any other part of our body. If you've ever been curious about the inner workings of a dentist's mind and practice, this episode is sure to enlighten you!
This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Stacey Poehler.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, we are here talking with Dr Vina Botte from North Fulton Smiles, a local dentistry practice. Welcome, dr Botte, thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I wanted to start by telling us about your business Great North Fulton Smiles is a general dental practice.
Speaker 3:We focus on restorative health of the mouth and the teeth and we focus on beautification of people's smiles along with keeping their smiles healthy and their teeth healthy as well, and their oral health as well. So primarily we are a family focused, cosmetic and restorative dental office. Awesome, awesome.
Speaker 2:Why don't you talk a little bit about your journey and you know how you decided to go into dentistry and your education and all that kind of stuff?
Speaker 3:Okay, awesome, yeah, so I, as far as I can remember, I've wanted to be a dentist. There was something super fascinating about my baby teeth being loose and having to remove them and things like that. It's a little weird, I get it, but there was something really fascinating about that. And then how another tooth comes in after that. As a six or seven year old, I found it really fascinating and I decided to start pursuing that. So when adults would ask you what do you want to be little girl when you grow up and I was like I want to be a dentist.
Speaker 3:And then once I was in high school and they would have career day offerings and just meet and greets with other professionals, I always ended up choosing dentistry and learning about what it is about that profession that fit me. And then same thing in college. I did internships or research papers on healthcare issues or anything like that. I always ended up choosing dentistry as my topic. I found that the art and the science involved in dentistry was a really good fit for me, where I like the sciences, the human sciences, and I love the artistic part of it.
Speaker 3:I used to always tinker with things or do little handicrafts as a kid and just play like that. And there was also a human component in all of this science and art that I also enjoyed. I like people, I am an extrovert by heart and I enjoy engaging with people and I found that dentistry served that purpose of the art, science and people and I could be good at it. So I continued that and I enjoyed dental school. I went to dental school in Chicago at Northwestern University, and then I moved to Atlanta. After graduating and doing a residency in San Francisco, I moved to Atlanta and established myself here and I've been here for 23 years.
Speaker 2:So what are some of the myths and misconceptions that are out there about dentistry and teeth and the industry as a whole right now?
Speaker 3:There's a couple of different subsets to that. I think one of the myths could be that dentistry is as needed service or healthcare. What I'm finding is, now that I've been in practice with my own practice and I have the continuity of seeing patients for now 15 years, I'm finding that patients that actually do the preventative care and do things in a timely manner have less issues in the future and can maintain better health, versus waiting too long to say I'll wait until something hurts and I'll take care of it then. So extrapolating that even into general healthcare you know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is 100% true in our industry as well. So if I could somehow impart that message to everybody that, even though they might seem that some dental care on a regular basis feels expensive or I can't afford it or whatever, in the long run you're actually going to see a dentist less, and it's ironic that we're really trying to get people to see us less by maintaining their health.
Speaker 2:For sure, for sure. You know you're encouraging people to come. You know, come in and not use your services by doing the preventative work and seeing you on a regular basis.
Speaker 3:And doing things in a timely manner so that you're not incurring more costs for your own dental healthcare.
Speaker 2:When you talk about restorative dentistry, can you explain a little bit about what that is?
Speaker 3:trial listeners yeah, so teeth, just like other parts of our body, go through a lot of wear and tear, and anytime we have to repair anything like from cavities or trauma or wear and tear, invariably that has to be redone. And so, with that, restoring teeth means putting it back into a good form, shape, aesthetics, if you will and also good function, so that the teeth can do what it is it's supposed to do, which is help you talk, help you eat and just help it. Actually, it also helps support the face. Lack of teeth means you're ultimately you know, some of your cheek and facial structures can also lose its support underneath the scaffolding, if you will, for your lips and such are your teeth. So restorative dentistry serves to put back or improve the function and form of teeth and, in the process, also the aesthetics of it, because we are let's just face it, we are an aesthetic driven society in all of the US, for that matter, you know, and we like having a nice smile Right, in addition to having it work for you too. I Know.
Speaker 2:You know she's think back thinking of the aesthetics part, like when we were growing up you didn't really hear about whitening your teeth. That wasn't something that people did. Now, you know, if you see anybody on TV, their teeth are just so white and sparkling. And what do you offer in your office to help people who want to? You know, remove some of the stains and, you know, get a wider smile.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there are. There's a lot of different things that can be done in that realm. A Lot of times it's a matter of just getting a good, very thorough cleaning and then the whitening procedures that uses gel whiteners to apply on the teeth, and there are different levels of that engagement as well. From there we can also do composite restorations or or white bonding fillings kind of thing that can also enhance someone's smile, make it look brighter.
Speaker 3:All the way to veneers, to or crowns which is what you see on TV a lot of times are are Crowns and veneers that Are patients or celebrities or public personalities will do in order to have that perfect smile. A lot of times what's interesting is that just having the teeth be placed in the right place in the mouth by straightening some teeth and doing some corrective orthodontics Can make somebody's smile just light up, and that's plenty for some patients. So what we do is we really get to know what our patient's goals are and what they want and put that into the lifestyle that they lead and See how we can give them their offerings, customize it to their life, their lifestyle, their careers and their finances. To be honest, let's just talk about that because that's also an important part of this conversation, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:Do you do any orthodontics in your office, or is that something you refer out? I?
Speaker 3:Do orthodontics in terms of clear aligners, like in visa line, okay, and it's been wildly successful For patients just getting such in a new upgrade to their smile. There are some situations, there are a lot of situations correction, where an orthodontist is required because Orthodontia is not just about straight teeth, even though the words orthodontia means straight teeth. It's not just about straight teeth. It's really a system of functioning of the jaw and the teeth and the palette and there's so much more to the airway and there's so much more to sign to that anatomy and science, then just putting braces on and straightening teeth. So I we do a very thorough assessment to see where that patient lands in terms of what care they want and what goals we're trying to offer, achieve, and Then we we proceed accordingly.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Can you explain now? Sometimes we have kids listen to these and they're trying to figure out what you know career they want to do. What would the differences in schooling and training be for a dentist and an orthodontist?
Speaker 3:And orthodontists is considered a specialist of dentistry. So after four years of high school and after you get your bachelor's degree, you go to dental school for another four years and after that, really after four years of dental school, you are eligible to go out into the market and work. A lot of students will go out to the market and work, graduates I mean, and others may go and pursue residencies in specialties or just in general practice residencies just to get more advanced training in the procedures that sometimes dental schools just can't teach all the things. So orthodontics is considered a two to three year specialty after dental school. So after the I guess that's four and four, eight years after high school is you have a DDS degree and then you go to another two to three years of school for being an orthodontist. Any specialty has a different number of years, right?
Speaker 2:What did you do for your residency?
Speaker 3:I did a general practice residency at UCSF in California. I enjoyed it so much. I did a two year program instead of one year. I guess I was just a little bit not wanting to adult yet, and so I enjoyed being part of the university system. So I did a two year residency in California Awesome yeah.
Speaker 2:I know you're busy and you know you work hard, but what do you like to do for fun? How do you relax?
Speaker 3:I love to hang out with my friends, whether it's whether we're just wearing sweatpants and watching movies or just having a glass of wine. I like to walk. I have two dogs that are my favorites. I love them so much the two golden doodles that get all the attention in our house and so I let you'll see me walking around Milton and stuff a lot, and I love to travel. I travel quite a bit, either to visit family or visit friends or in sometimes just vacation as well. I've also done some traveling in terms of volunteerism. So we yeah, we've done some dental volunteerism in countries that have underserved children and stuff. So that's, that's something that I really, really love to do as well.
Speaker 2:Wow, yeah, that's amazing. Where are some of the places that you've gone?
Speaker 3:My daughters and I have made this a girls trip and we've gone to Guatemala, we've been to Cambodia, we've been to Kenya, mexico, and we have more countries we want to go to, but they're in college now so it's a little bit difficult to coordinate all of our time off, but I intend to start doing more of that.
Speaker 2:Are either of them going to dentistry? I?
Speaker 3:don't think so. One of them might be. One of them is going to go into healthcare, but the other one is a hard. No, she's just. She's more in the fine arts, so she will pursue some of her fine arts goals.
Speaker 2:Good, good. Anything else that you want to share with our listeners, that you haven't had a chance to say?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would love to tell listeners that, in the face of a lot of corporate dental offices and a lot of insurance-driven offices, dentistry is really the best. Outcome of your healthcare comes from a great relationship with your healthcare professional, whether it's your chiropractor, optometrist and dentist. Our best patients are ones that have been with us for 15 years. They have great healthcare, they take good care of themselves. We are part of their healthcare journey as well and it's just such a relationship-driven industry. It's because we see our patients more than they see their doctors. At least twice a year we see our patients and we develop such a relationship with them. As to their children, their on-going we've seen kids become parents over time and it's just so gratifying to have that kind of relationship with our patients that it actually in our office.
Speaker 3:It makes us want to do better work. It makes us want to go out there and learn more about our profession and stay on top of what's new and update our technology constantly, because we want to offer what is out there the best of what's out there for our patients. It's really hard to appreciate all of that both ways when people jump offices a lot. So we really try to nurture the patient and get to know who they are and how can we best serve them and that way we can see the success of their oral healthcare over time. And I think if patients could just appreciate that that's really what a lot of us dentists are trying to do with our patients is to have good healthcare, good dental care given to them. That way they can have success in their own dentistry. I think that would be really, really wonderful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, awesome. Where can folks find you Want to tell us where you're located and your website.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we are located right in the middle of Roswell, milton maybe even Cherokee County dumps into that area in the Silo's Crabapple area. Our address is 12315 Crabapple Road, right next to One Life Fitness and Alpine Bakery and the Silo's. Our website is northfultonsmilescom and you can email us through that portal. There's tons of information. We're also. We have a like, we like to have a good time on Facebook and Instagram, so there's, we do have pages there as well. On Instagram we are drvena underscore bot, bhat, and Facebook we are northfultonsmilescom.
Speaker 2:Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining us today, dr Bot.
Speaker 3:Thank you. It was a pleasure talking to you and thank you for organizing this, and I'm excited for our engagement with our community. Yeah, for sure, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast Milton and more. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPMiltoncom. That's GNPMiltoncom, or call 470-664-4930.