1A Profession called "Dentist" 1

When I was in the third grade of high school, I had a conversation with a female English teacher about my future plans. When I said “I’m going to be a dentist like my father, so I think I will do dentistry at college”, all she said was “I wonder if looking into other people’s dirty mouths is a fun job…:”
Well, that’s one way of looking at it… I recall that I couldn’t think of an answer.

25 years on, in a life full of ups and downs, I can now assert with confidence that being a dentist is a pretty fun job, creative, and extremely satisfying. True, people’s mouths are full of bacteria, the gums bleed, there are bits of food stuck in there, and they smell. The inside of the mouth is a very small space, so dental treatment is very precise and time-consuming work that needs patience. It is tough on the back and on the eyes.

But without teeth you wouldn’t be able to eat, and your body would lose its balance and strength (casual daily movements and mannerisms sooner or later put pressure on the teeth). And the teeth in your mouth are a crucial part of human beauty – people are always looking at them, they show when you smile. you catch glimpses of them during conversation, and if they are beautiful shining white teeth, they definitely make a good impression, and anyway, they look good!
Women’s teeth look particularly good with red lipstick! Making people’s teeth beautiful and seeing the pleasure people gain from this is the most satisfying job there is.

I have a sister two years older than me, and she is a dentist too. But unlike me, she doesn’t directly treat teeth – she is a dental anaesthetist. From a young age, my sister was always very clever, and she originally planned to go to medical school, but she suddenly decided it would be fine to be a dentist like our father (the way she put it, this was a step down), and she was strong enough academically to get a recommended place to study dentistry. I am proud of my sister, who has seen two years more of life than me. Although we are always being compared with each other, my parents put no particular pressure on me, so I feel I have been remarkably free to do what I want with my life.

After I graduated from college I continued my training, building up experience in dental treatment, but surgery and implant treatments were what particularly interested me.

That time was really the start of implants in Japan, and every weekend I volunteered as assistant to a dental surgeon so that I could study implants, which I continued for two years.

This was the period when I really got to know dentistry as a profession, and the time soon came when I was thankful I had become a dentist.

When I was 29, my beloved father suddenly passed away. One March morning he collapsed in his lab, still wearing his white coat, and he died three days later, at the age of 59.

I immediately decided to take over my father’s dental practice and do my best together with the staff who had worked with him for 30 years. My sister had an important position in a university hospital, so I realised that it was me who had to take over the practice, and I didn’t hesitate for a moment. On my father’s sudden death, I felt it was my role to protect his clinic, and to transmit his hopes to his patients and staff. 

Having always been looked after by my father, I felt real responsibility for the first time. In my new position I had to think about not only comprehensive dental treatment, but also my role in the regional medical system, and management (of both staff and family). This was extremely tough, but at the same time, it brought me days when I was thankful to be a dentist.

The reason was that that protecting, and working in, the clinic built by beloved father was my only way of repaying him. It was an important place that linked me to my father.

                                                                                     Continued in #2 A profession called “Dentist” 2 →