Simona Loghin

Meet Simona. 

A Romanian dentist now working across London, with a special interest in endodontics. 

Simona is a real people person with a passion for her work and life. 

We chat about the importance of finding good mentors, positivity, failing forwards and why we can all do anything we put our minds to. 

@simonaloghin_dentist

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, I'm Simona Loggin and this is Neutral Zone.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Hi Simona. Hi, Fran. Welcome to Neutral Zone. Thank you for having me here. Thank you for coming on a Saturday afternoon and giving up your day. Well, your hour.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

My pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

You have been requested by a few people, so um, we're giving the the fans what they want with you. I can't break. A lady of mystery. Let's move to the first question, one that we always ask everybody. How much of your identity, Simona, do you think is tied to being a dentist?

SPEAKER_00 0:44

In the past, I was uh identifying more as being a dentist. Uh now uh I try to have an equilibrium between um being a dentist and after five o'clock just enjoying my uh life, going to the gym, going out with friends. And there is more than dentistry outside um outside the world. So your balance is there? I try to to balance a lot, and I try to um to have peace in my life and to uh enjoy what I have achieved.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

How do you switch off at five though? What kind of things do you put in place to make sure that you do you do that, you're able to switch off at five? Because most people are still answering things. You're just like, ciao, bye.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Everyone goes home. So you have to go home as well. Uh which is good. Which is good. Um, I think it's very important to have boundaries, to set boundaries, and to try to respect them as much as you can. Definitely, if there is an emergency, more than happy to stay over, but uh it should not happen on a daily basis.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

You're an endodontist. Yes, uh special interest in root canal childmund. There's a special um there's a new acronym, isn't there, for that? Is it the D W I D W or something?

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Yeah, dentist with special interest in endodontics. And then sometimes I do also the restorative part. Uh but I love it. It's a very good mix between doing root canal treatment and um uh doing the restorative part. Basically, you c you you have the control of the whole procedure and you are able to save the tooth from A to Z. Uh and you have you basically that is your own tooth. No one can touch it because sometimes the dentist blames the endodontist and vice versa. And vice versa. So you can't escape.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

It's all on you, it's all on me, and I love it. What makes you love it? What do you love about it?

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Uh, what I love about it, I love endodontics. Oh, I love I love my job. I feel like I'm not working one day in my life. I consider my job as my hobby. Uh, just having fun with the nurses. Patients are amazing. Uh, I am surrounded by an amazing team. I work in great practices. Um, so I have all the uh surround environment to succeed. What I love about my job is the fact that patients come in pain, or sometimes patients are referred because the general dentist is not able to provide to them the right treatment. So uh I'm able to seize the patient to sort an issue that theoretically no one can do it. And just come to the rescue. They come to the rescue, so they see you as the lady who can do it. The hero. The hero. So it is a lovely position to be on. Do you like working across several practices? Um, I think it's uh it's good to divide my time in between different practices, um because you are exposed to more dentists uh and you learn from each dentist. Uh if you work in only one practice, maybe you're exposed only to three, four persons. But if you work in 10 in three practices like myself, I'm exposed to 20 amazing dentists. So I think it's uh very important to learn from the best and make it better. She's got a nice network of people.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

I do. Not just one or two, twenty. And more people referring to it. More people, which is great. Which do you think it's you've always felt like it's a hobby, or is that because you're kind of established now, you know what you're doing?

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Uh it wasn't like this when I started. I remember after graduation, I was crying every single day. Almost every single day. And I was I was um I was lucky to be surrounded by amazing dentists, to have a very good mentor in in uh in Italy. I used to live in Italy. And when I was uh shadowing him and I was seeing how he's doing the things, and how hard and everything was looking effortless, and how hard it was for me to do the same procedure. It was so frustrating. And I was wondering all the time when the day, when the day will arrive, when I'll be able to do the same procedure in such an easy way. And the thing is like you know that the day will arrive, and you know that you have to put the work in, but you never know when that day will arrive. How many years has it been? Don't reveal your age. Roughly. So graduated in 2010, but uh yes, let's do the math, girls' math, or just the math math?

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Lady math. Lady never reveals.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

2010 is enough. And you didn't graduate in Italy or the UK?

SPEAKER_00 6:20

So I graduated in Romania. Uh in the last year of university, I wanted to shadow a dentist just to learn more about dentistry and to be exposed to dentistry. I met, um, I had the opportunity to accidentally meet my one of my first mentors in Romania, which became immediately my friend while I was buying a book. I went to buy a book and uh dental book. And uh she had the publishing quittances, and I really enjoyed the practice, so I popped the question if I can work to if I can work as a nurse in that practice. And then while you were a student? Yes, while I was a student, and uh the lady who was selling the book uh went to the principal dentist, and then um she said she's a lovely lady. She asked, How is she? She was like, She's an amazing girl. Oh and I got the job. But I have never ever worked as a nurse because we just became friends in one second, but that friendship helped me a lot, and also um I have always seen my friend as my version in 10 years. Was she an endodontist?

SPEAKER_01 7:39

She's an endodontist, so you knew you wanted to do that from early and early on.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Yeah, because I have been exposed to this. I saw I saw the microscope, fell in love with the microscope, and my only gym was to work with the microscope. You have to have gyms in your life.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

You do, it's big. It's not my dream to do endo.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

You have to have a direction. It helps, doesn't it? It helps a lot, and because you know that you put all your work towards that direction. A smaller niche. Yeah, and small niche. And then um, as soon as I graduated, uh, I moved to Italy, been exposed to the best dentistry uh in the world, together with in with Domenico, and then Picucci. And then my life has changed. Again in endodontics.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

So that was a bit of a pivot for you. You say that's a turning point. It is a turning point. So you did what a year after uni in Romania or straight away?

SPEAKER_00 8:45

Straight away, straight away after university, I moved to Italy. And were you working full-time there? I was working full-time, I was doing research, I was writing articles, um, I was traveling, I was lecturing, and I have been exposed to top dentistry.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

So for you, when we talk about the importance of like mentors and mentorship, that that like propelled you straight away, didn't it?

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Yes, yes, because from the first day I graduated, I had loops, camera. Well I was seeing I was surrounded by dentists who were working with loops and cameras. And specialists and professors and researchers. And then my friend was organizing courses in Romania as well, uh, with big names in restorative. So I have been exposed only to good dentistry. I do not know anything. I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

She's not I feel like that's you, that's you to a T. Only the best. Only the best, nothing less. I mean, it's a very unusual but lovely way to get thrown into it.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

It it is because you do not know any difference. There is no uh space to make any mistakes, um, and you do not have to reset yourself. Because once you learn, because anyway you have to learn. Like after graduation, you think that you know everything. You know, but as soon as you see the first station, you're like, what happened in the last in the minute six years, six years of uni, and you realize that you do you have almost zero communication skills, and you don't even know what you are doing, and you can't even see properly. And uh you have to learn to work indirectly with the with the loops or with the microscope. So, anyway, for anything there is uh learning curvature. So it's better to learn like this from day one than to learn differently. Or bad habits or bad habits, and then you have to change the bad habits and unlearn to learn again.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

It is interesting your journey, actually. How long were you in Italy for?

SPEAKER_00 11:15

So I've been in Italy for um nine years. And what brought what brought you to London? A dream. A dream, another dream. Another dream. She's a dreamer. I'm a dreamer because I have always wanted to live in Italy to live in in the UK. My mom lives here. My mom moved here when I was in the second year of university. So I was always visiting uh London and I was always dreaming how nice it would be for me for me one day to work here. And then one day I got the opportunity to work on Halley Street, and I have always wanted to be here. So I said to myself that there's an opportunity that I can't refuse it. And I just took it and uh never looked back. Uh I'm so happy about my decision because um I met you, I met so many friends. How many years have you been here now? And then uh it's almost nine years, eight years. Hopefully, I'm not going to move anytime soon. Uh but it was quite the journey. Do you still love it? I think I love it more than ever. Uh because the beginning for I think for everyone, no matter in what stage in life you are, every beginning is not easy. But I think it's always good to have these kinds of beginnings because they will give you so much energy. And you will be able to make things that you are not able to do uh and to get get you out from the comfort zone.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

I was listening to something the other day that said um the more we change things up, the slower life goes. Yeah. Do you feel like you've had like nine lives? I do.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

At least I'm not so sure about you. I feel like I'm in my twenties.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Yeah, Jen. I've never I don't think I've ever met anyone, and I mean this, with more energy or more positivity than you. Thank you. Where do you think that comes from? Um when I first met you, I was almost like, whoa, this girl is positive. Like from a British point, we're always a little bit muddy or a little bit grumpy, aren't we? Like I'm like, oh, it's raining. Like, it's raining, it's a lovely day.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

There's positive and there is wow. And there's more than positive.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

But now it's now I get it, now it's infectious. You you want to be around it when you're used to it. If I if I'm down, I'm like, let me just message Simona and my day.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

Five minutes later, I'm fine. I remember that when I was 10 years old, I read the book, which is called The Secret. Really? I don't remember much from that book, but the only thing that I remember from the book was uh about positiveness, which is basically they were saying, um, if you think that you're going to lose your if you're late, and if you're going to if you think that you're going to lose the um the train, and if you think I'm going to lose it, I'm going to lose it, you're going to lose the train. But if you're going to think I'm going to catch that train and I'll be on that train, you will be on that train. And that thing's stuck to me.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

That is stuck to you as well. I'm always on that train 15 minutes early, and like, where is she? Where is she? Where is she? And just as the whistle goes, you'll catch that train.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Just in time. And I think endodontics suits me a lot because in endodontics you're always at the end. You have to be perfect. Not to dip nothing long. But just right. And precision. Manifest that you're gonna find that canal manifesting. Um I think uh what I think we are very blessed of having this job. Uh because you learn to know about yourself and you lear you learn a lot of things. And you can you can grow uh in a very healthy way. And especially you can because we interact with the interact with a lot of patients every day, and we have a lovely exchange of thoughts and communication, and you can learn a lot from our patients as well. Because everyone has a story. They do.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

That's what this podcast is about. Yes. Why do you think you're suited to Endo then?

SPEAKER_00 16:05

I have never thought about it. But I think Endo chose me. I haven't chosen Endo. Okay. Uh first because I have been surrounded by Endodontist. Uh and I basically I didn't know to do anything else than Endodontist and Restorative. And then uh once I uh I met uh a guy at the conference and he was like, because I'm doing endo, I've got so many jobs. And when I moved to the UK, I got that's true, everyone needs jobs. Everyone needs an Endodontist. Yeah. Uh so endo is very niche. No one wants to do endo dont. It's true. No one, no one. And uh I think it's probably helped you moving around then. Helped me moving around, it helped me uh being who I am today, and it helped me growing or reaching my goals.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

It's kind of given you a platform then, has to to be good. Yeah. It's given you there's your niche. Yeah, it gave me a platform uh to strive. So come five o'clock and you've had enough of endo. Where would we find you? What would you be doing? Uh just straight to the gym.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

She's a gym she's a gym girly. I'm a gym girly. Straight to the gym, uh, where I find where I reunite with my friends. It's so important to have gym friends. Because you're not every day in the moon to go to the gym. Once you are there, after the gym, you love it, and you consider that you have you just did the best thing ever for you.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

So when I can't be bothered, I'm like, Simona would be like, just go, you're gonna feel better after, and I'm like, oh my god, she's in my head, she's not even here.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

But Jim is more than that. Jim is training for life. Um keeps you strong, keep strong, resilience, mental health, energy, energy, uh, looking good, which helps. It does. And then as a dentist, the the reason why I go to the gym is also because to like if I wouldn't go to the gym, I would be in so my back would be in so much pain.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

It's true, we we sit down all day. Well, most of the day anyway. It isn't it isn't a very active job, is it? I know they say it's taxing on your body, but only because we're stationary. Yes. Sometimes you just need to stretch. All I want to do is go and hang from a bar after. Stretch my spine. What about other things other than the gym? How do you look after yourself otherwise? Um like more like your mind and your soul.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

So um I'm very lucky that at the gym there are classes um for strength, but also for mind and body. So I do Pilates classes, I do yoga classes, and um also my favorite it is sound bath. Uh after I hear that gong, after five o'clock, the only thing that I want to hear is not a power from a patient, but it's the gong. And I promise you, you are Zen. But also I do love spending time with my friends, and also I love my holidays. Where do you go on holiday? Every holiday is has to have sun, which is the most important. We love the sun and uh beach holidays, summer holidays. Even winter sun mode. And then winter holiday skiing with my girls are the best. Have you always skied? Uh not really. Uh, but it has always been my dream. Another dream! Uh I I think it's very important to to have dreams and not to have fears.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

Yeah, you're fearless. Uh like it's one thing I admire about you is not that you're old, so I'm not much different in age to you at all, but you're willing to just do another thing. You know, like you want to learn another thing. Yeah. Another skill. Like um like skiing or track. Yeah. I Did you like that track? I love the stroke. Shark humbles, yeah. So I I dragged Simona to an athletics club a couple of years ago on a summer. Um, and you turned up with uh a bottle of San Pellegrino and a red lip, and I loved it. I was there like baggy t-shirt, water bottle, just a mess. And you even bring Glenn to a track, it's amazing. But you're not scared, you just do it. You know, like some people are scared what they look like, and not that you were bad, but I think that stops people trying. Like you you're not scared of trying anything.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Because then you have like I think that my luck, it is not to know what fear it is. My mom has never ever told me that I can do anything. She basically she let me do everything. Said you can do everything. She said You can do anything you want. Yeah, she said I can do everything I want, and I was doing everything I wanted. Uh so fear it is is not in my vocabulary.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Um it's useful.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

It's a useful trait for life. And and sometimes Um what I see in other people, they they don't even start because they have fear. Uh even in simple things. Like even trying new food. There's a fear because they have never tried it. You can always try something, at least you know if you like it or if you do not like it. But at least try it. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

Um it's like feel the fear and do it anyway as well. Yes. I mean, you should be fearful of trying new food though.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

We are here to listen, not to judge. See, positivity. Positivity everywhere. What were you like as a little girl? I have always been into studying. So I was studying. Yeah, very. But I was also um independent. Very independent. I if I wanted to do something, I was just doing it, no matter what people were saying or my mom was saying. I was just leaving the house and maybe going to the library. I was not going very far.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

You sound like uh Matilda. Yeah. Have you seen the film Matilda? Uh yeah. Like the little girl just sort of goes off with her and her.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

And just chatting with everyone. Like even when I was seven years old. Really? Just taking the tube, um, underground, everything. Going central in central Picarest, going to the French Embassy library, studying, stopping every now and then. Chat with someone, having some uh I remember when I stopped to once I stopped to uh people who were selling honey or honey shop, they gave me honeys. I was like, okay. Thank you very much. Oh curious. I like to explore.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Curious. Very curious. I think curiosity is so nice a trait. I think it gets you a long way. It is. In all sp in all spaces of life. Like if you're curious when you're travelling or like to try new things or curious why something works the way it does in work and dentistry, it makes you go further. Yeah. Totally agree. Are you the youngest or the oldest? I'm the youngest of of two. So I have to. I always would have thought you were the oldest. But I think I was like the oldest. Brother or sister Cinema? Older sister. Older sister. And close in age? Uh one year difference. Yeah, so close. That's probably why. You're taking the lead.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

Yes, I was taking the lead because my sister was already writing and going to school. So I wanted as soon as I struggled doing this, I was like, okay, let me have my notebook and let me write. Yeah. Um so that was helpful. And I was seeing her what you were where she was not able to uh to do something, and I was trying to do it to help her. To help her. Oh. Or to to help myself. To be the best.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

I know, yeah, it's very important to uh help yourself. So everything you're describing is is so positive, which is so lovely. But would you say you have had any setbacks so far? So many.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

So many. So many. But um I tried to see any failure in a positive way. Um, but it hasn't always been like this. Uh I haven't seen failures, uh um, failures looking forward all the time. I didn't know how to fail forward, but I've learned how to. I like that fail forward. Uh it's a nice turn of phrase. Um and I I never consider a failure as uh something that will stop me, but uh stepping stone, which is very important. And I never give up. This is true. This is my thing, and I always repeat my mind now. Like, if I if I struggle with something, the first word that comes into my mind is like never give up.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

And if I think of you, I would say your mantra is we can do anything. Even when I'm crying on a slope, on a red slope.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

My question to you is when we couldn't. See? It's true, we always do it. When we couldn't, um do you remember our run? Casual Saturday, Sunday. We said, let's go for a run.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

No, no, no, you're remembering this wrong. I said, let's go for a run. Where do you want to run to? And we were both in Bassi at the time, and you said, let's run to Greenwich. So I said, why? Have you have you ever been to Greenwich? And she's like, No. How many kilometres was that? What? Fifte? No, more. Uh 20? 20. So we did. We ran to Greenwich on a whim. And Greenwich. Greenwich it was. Um, but yeah, you I think mindset is massive. If you and it's infectious, if you've got someone there saying we can do it. And we often say that, don't we, on runs. Like we've both got into long running. Not at the moment, but we have. And it's if there's more than one of you, it's great because when somebody's energy's down, the other person's is up, and vice versa, and you you have you have miles where someone's really struggling, and then and the next mile the other person's reversed it. And it massively helps you get through.

SPEAKER_00 27:57

And then let's not forget that Winston Churchill was saying that success. I haven't heard this. Go on. It's going from failure to failure with enthusiasts. I like that. Without losing the enthusiast. But I would even say without losing yourself. Yeah. Which is very important. What does success look like to you? Like the only thing that I wanted in life was to be successful as a dentist and to be where I am now. Everyone has different um wishes of where they l the life uh should be or they want to be. And I just wanted to be a very to be very good at what I'm doing. And I knew that the other things will just fall into place.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

Where does that like confidence come from though that it is just gonna work out? Do we have options? It's either it's either that or fail. Yeah, yeah. No other way. We have to strive. What would you be, Simona, if you weren't a dentist? That's a very hard question. A runner.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Uh funny enough, every now and then I say the only thing that I know to do is dentistry. Uh but if I wouldn't be a dentist, I might be um personal trainer, but motivational speaker. You'd be a good PT actually. Yeah, motivational uh even motivational speaker. I think I've got this. Uh I motivate, encourage, support. Everyone. Everyone. You do. Everyone.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

You told me something the other day which I thought was lovely. Um, like you don't realise this goes for everyone, I'm not just speaking about Simona, but you don't realise the influence you have as a certain as a single person in in the world or whatever, in your little life. But um someone said something about you coming to work every day. Yeah. Tell them. We can. Where when you come in every morning and say, Happy Tuesday! Tuesday. And the receptionist was saying to someone else without you knowing, I love every Tuesday I look forward to Samana coming in and saying Happy Tuesday, everyone! Yes, Tuesdays are special. Every day is special.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Mondays are special because of my nurse, Sladan, who cooks for me every Monday, Iranian food.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

You have the best nurses, you really do. They cook for her, they look after your dog.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

Tuesday is special because it's fulon. And I love being in fulon, a full arobe dental. Uh, and then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. It is special again. Because I'm in Iskot, where is like home for me? Is there anything else you'd still like to achieve, Simona? For the time being, I just want to enjoy what I have achieved, not to run after any other dreams. Um present now. Just be present. Which I think is very important because sometimes we we miss enjoying what we have, and do we want more and more and more? And how more do you want? Yeah. This is the because every time you want more, there is a price to pay. And sometimes it's a very quite quite high price to pay that can uh influence your your life, your health, your time. Because you can't uh have more without without compromising on the time.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

I often think that with um people at the top at the top, yeah. Like I admire that they are at the top, but I also think what are they sacrificing to be there? And it's almost like this maybe is a bit of a hot take. We need those people at the top, obviously. But I often think the people who have it the best, the ones like like a bottle of milk with the cream on the top, just below. Do you know what I mean? Like the the bottom half of the top. Yeah. Like yeah, just there, right? Just in the right place. It's hard, you can't be the best unless you're sacrificing something. Yes. In any discipline.

SPEAKER_00 32:45

Anything.

SPEAKER_01 32:46

In anything in life.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Uh but for example, at a certain point I was considering even buying a practice or lecturing more. Uh but if you start to lecture, then you'll have to travel. Then you have to do the preparation for your lectures. Then initially you enjoy it. Because I used to travel a lot while I was in Italy, but I was not working as much as I was working, I'm working now. Uh and it's an amazing life because you you you you you travel around the world, you have dinners, you are treated as a princess, everyone wants you and wait for you. Um and life is amazing. But you have to compromise on the time, clinic time, and then you have to compromise on your life. Because you can't have uh you can't go to like for example, I go to the gym four, five, uh, six times per week. I will not be able to do that if I'm going to travel.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

It's a compromise, isn't it? Well, not compromise. Compromise is the wrong word. It's kind of tailoring your tailoring your routine to what suits you best as a person.

SPEAKER_00 34:07

But what I say to everyone is pay attention what you wish for, because it will happen. It's always happened. What you're striving for happens. What you're striving for always happens.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

What are your daily rituals to look after yourself? I know you keep talking about the gym, but you do other stuff.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

Do I do? I'm a simple girl. I'm a very simple girl. You are, but you aren't. Uh uh, I I don't drink coffee. So I I try to be as healthy as I can. Can't believe you have so much energy without even a cup of coffee. Um wake up in the morning and um just go straight to work, basically. Have my open out smoothie. Smoothing. And then um I used to drive. Now I'm a TFL girl, which I love it. Now TFL girls are the best. So I can enjoy a lovely book while I'm um while I'm on the tube. I can catch up with all my emails or admin um and then go straight to work and enjoy uh my time being at work. And after work, usually or I go out or I go to the gym.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

If you say I you won the Euromillions next week and you won Big Big. Yep. If you won the Euro Millions. I love that. Yeah. Do you think you still do dentistry?

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Maybe not for the first uh six months. Yes. I will retire, I'll take myself on uh in Bali. Oh nice. And I will just abandon myself in the middle of the jungle. To work out what you're gonna do. Yeah. And then just enjoy nature, yoga, relax. But that will get boring after six months. That's true, yeah. Yeah. And then I will I will definitely not quit working. I love working. I love I love the challenge. I love the interaction with patients, I love being able to help them. Um and I think we have reached a point in life where we know what we are doing. So roughly we like we do not have surprises, or a lot of surprises. Less surprises, less and less, yeah, less heart attack, if I can call it like this, less stress, less anxiety when we are doing a procedure. And then when we have something which is very hard that we can't do, it always challeng challenges us, and we try to invent ourselves. And this is the beauty of our job. Um and we try to make everything effortless at the end of the day, and to to give to the patient a very good service.

SPEAKER_01 37:18

You definitely make it look effortless. Yeah, that's what they say. Is there anything you've learned about yourself recently as you've got a bit older in the job or in life?

SPEAKER_00 37:32

Um, I have learned never to give up.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

Have you ever tried to remove a metal post or I can't say I've many times because I stopped doing endo as soon as I could.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

Sometimes in a very good day, it may take one five minutes, ten minutes. If if it's harder, it may take one hour. So you are just vibrating for an hour. For an hour a post that you do not know when it will come out. And keep going. You keep going. And very often you're like, I'm about to give up. And I'm like, no, let me try for another one song or one minute. God, I bet you're relentless in it. And then, you know, you like if you if you give up, you never know when this it could be the next second. Yeah, it could be the next second. Yeah. And it sometimes it takes one second extra of patience, and you did it. Do you think you're more patient now? I think yes. Yes. Before I wanted everything now, when I wanted, and on my terms. Now it's still on my terms, but I have patience. I've learned to have patience, which is the best feeling in the world. Uh it will come, everything comes. It's just a matter of time. Divine time. But I think you have to. I think my words are like my mantra. And I repeat them. If you do anything. It will happen. We can do anything.

SPEAKER_01 39:18

We can do anything and they do anything. Do you think you're a type A personality? Type A, type B? Yeah, type A or type B. What is type A? Made me laugh. Someone else asked, um, is type A the worst one? Type A is like the disciplinary and tidy, neat, okay. Organized, early. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

Type B is a bit more relaxed. And type B. And definitely type B, but maybe I pretend from my nerves to be type A.

SPEAKER_01 39:56

So you're almost a bit annoying with it because you're always you're always just in time or just enough or And I have never missed a flight. Yeah, you've definitely almost missed a few flights now. It's all about precision. Yeah, that's you are very you're you're just in time, always. Never. Never.

SPEAKER_00 40:22

Where does that come from? Um, I think it's brain is a muscle, so you have to train it. And I've trained it. How you can't change anything. Yeah, so much is out of your control. You can't. You like sometimes when I was driving I knew that I left late, but I was pretending that I I was hoping that I would arrive on time, but I was forcing it, which is lovely. And sometimes I was thinking I'm late, I'll be late, and I was just building up anxiety, and it was not helping me. So I said to myself, I have to stop doing this aggressivity on me. And thinking that um it is what it is, it is what it is, and you have to accept it. Yeah, and let it be. And let it be. Because there are things that we can't change, unfortunately. What the time you got up and left? Also bad.

SPEAKER_01 41:32

I can't change that I'm five minutes late and go. I can't change. But then I find it very um attractive the way I I wish I was a bit more like that.

SPEAKER_00 41:47

So when I come, like I always my appointment is at nine. I'm at nine at the practice. Yeah. I greet the patient. Happy Tuesday! Hello. And when I'm in Isca, because it takes me one hour to get there, I made it.

SPEAKER_01 42:05

Um to be to be fair, if a patient, if I was your patient and you walked in at 901 and I'm you're just, you know, like you are smiley, smiley, happy Tuesday, good morning. I will be with you shortly. How could they be mad at you? Yeah, you can't. You don't and you just don't let them be mad. They can't be mad at you.

SPEAKER_00 42:28

I remember I said something very funny that you um and our friend loved it. The attitude, uh, more than uh aptitude. The term is the altitude. Oh so cliche. It's important to have all three. And the habit.

SPEAKER_01 42:48

Yeah. Attitude is definitely I yeah, I agree. Attitude is important. Well, aptitude without the attitude is pointless. Yes. Yeah. You you can be the cleverest person in the world, and if you don't try, or you're not putting it to good use, what's the point? Yeah. And the consistency of keep going. Yeah, persist persistence, perseverance. Just like running to Greenwich. Yeah. That was a long way. But this was the best beer. It was the best beer ever. The best beers are the ones that you've earned. Like, yeah, it's true.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

If you if we get things easy, we do not enjoy as much as a few.

SPEAKER_01 43:35

You don't appreciate it. Yeah. I heard something um the other day I I listen to so many podcasts, don't I? Something about like if you reached your dreams a little bit later, do you care that you're a bit late to it? No. I don't think you do. No. No.

SPEAKER_00 43:50

I think it's sweeter.

SPEAKER_01 43:52

Yeah, you you're still all you care about is that you got there in the end. Even if it's a bit later, who cares? Yes. Same on that track. That's not my personality though. To be improved. I want to be there first.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

Work in progress.

SPEAKER_01 44:14

Is there any ever been a time that you thought you'd step away from dentistry? I think we know the answer to this. Uh no. No.

SPEAKER_00 44:21

No. It's uh yeah, no, never. Well, how old were you when you decided you wanted to do it? Um, I think I have always wanted. I I I think I have always knew I'm going to be a doctor. Really? Yes. Uh definitely when I was 14, I wanted to do to be a vet because I had a dog. Um, and then uh I didn't have the dog. I didn't want to do that without having him. So he was basically he was the purpose, the meaning, the purpose, the aim of me doing uh veterinary. So when I was 18, anyway, studying biology, chemistry, physics, I had to choose between medicine or dentistry. And I chose dentistry. Why? And it was medicine, it was a clear no for me because I didn't want to spend uh six years at uh uh studying medicine. Uh and after that another six years uh doing um a postgraduate uh level. And then I didn't want to do night guards, uh weekend shifts. Um so for this reason it was a clear no. And therefore I chose dentistry. Best decision ever. Would I recommend to do to to someone to do dentistry? I would say yes. Oh yeah, that is interesting. I would say yes because it offers you flexibility. You can work in different countries, you can have your own shuttle, you can have a very good quality of life if you make it work.

SPEAKER_01 46:11

Make it work for you.

SPEAKER_00 46:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:13

If you went back to studying to get in or to the dental degree or graduation, what advice do you wish you'd have been given or what would you give to those people now?

SPEAKER_00 46:26

Uh definitely to follow their dreams. As soon as um they graduate, doesn't have a matter.

SPEAKER_01 46:33

Yeah, it's massive for you. Explosive, massive. I can't believe you've never been like in one of those those jobs with amalgams and dentures and perio. Never. Never do I regret it?

SPEAKER_00 46:48

No. Everyone's journey is different. Everyone's journey is different, special. Um and um do so many courses as possible. Early on. Early on, early on. Have dreams and knowing what you want. And everything will just fall into place and just have patience. And it will happen.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

You learned from the people who wrote the papers and worked with them.

SPEAKER_00 47:18

Yes. And and now our articles are studied at King's College, uh presented all around the world.

SPEAKER_01 47:27

Articles you were on. Yes, yeah. It's very young. And you are so young to be on them, but she's a real one. Okay. Any dedication. Dedication. Dedication. Just go for it.

SPEAKER_00 47:43

Just go for it and do it. I can do anything. The thing is like when you are there, you do not like when you enjoy what you are doing, you don't realise how hard you work. And everything looks so easy.

SPEAKER_01 48:05

That's so true. That's so true. I think you maybe you'll you feel a bit like this recently. Now I've I'm not saying that I've like reached a a place or some, you know, like I'm done. But recently I've been thinking you've just started. Okay. See, these are those sentences you just come out with. You reach a point, I think. I graduated what 13 years ago now. And dare I say it, you feel a bit like now it feels easier. Yeah. That you forget the work you've done to get there. And it's very easy to think, oh, that you know, you forget the late nights and all of the years. Yeah, the tears.

SPEAKER_00 48:48

I remember when as soon as um I got my my first cases, I was taking pictures, as soon as I was uh arriving home, I was putting in a PowerPoint on my pictures, analyzing what is wrong, what is nice, what is perfect, what I can improve. And I was doing consistently every single evening. Yeah. But I But you forget, don't you? Now you No, you can't forget. I yeah, I I think there's those things that you can't will never ever forget.

SPEAKER_01 49:21

But I mean you think you forget that you did it almost. You know, like it's a bit like when the anticlimax when you get your A in an exam and it's almost like the the hard work disappears for that second, and you think, Oh, I've got it now. Yeah. But at the time when you're actually doing that work, it feels like never ending. Yeah. And then it's over. I know. And you forget that you did it all, and then you're there. Okay, I think you should just say your um mantra to finish it off. Well, you said this. You can do anything. You can do anything. Thank you so much, Samana. Never give up, you can do anything. Thank you for coming. Thank you. Thank you, my pleasure. Ciao, ciao, ciao bella.

SPEAKER_00 50:07

Thank you.