9 minute read
Dr. Chetty, a Second-Generation AGD Dentist, Takes Up Presidency
By Caitlin Davis
On Nov. 24, 2024, Chethan Chetty, DDS, MAGD, was inducted as AGD president during the House of Delegates’ annual meeting in Chicago. This coming year, he plans to help guide the organization into the future by taking steps to increase grassroots engagement and promote membership while remaining open to organizational changes that could help modernize and improve operations.
Dentistry and AGD are traditions for the Chetty family. His father, R.K. Chetty, is also a general dentist and AGD member and past leader, and his wife, Avani, is an AGD component executive. His youngest son, Rushil, is currently applying to dental schools for Fall 2025 entrance.
“My dad never really pressured me to become a dentist, so I originally wanted to go into medicine,” Chetty said. “I got all the way into my junior year of college and had already taken the MCAT. Then one night I was hanging out with my friends, and we were talking about why we wanted to be doctors, and I had this moment of questioning whether it was really what I wanted to do. That started me down a different path of thinking about what it is that really drives me and makes me passionate about what I want to do. I rethought dentistry as a career and realized that it actually did have everything I wanted: being my own boss, working directly with patients, working with my hands, and having more manageable hours and more time with my family than I would as a doctor.”
After Chetty graduated from the University of Southern California Ostrow School of Dentistry in 2000, he joined his father’s practice and worked together with him for the next 20 years, then took over the practice after his father's retirement. During that time, while maintaining the practice philosophy and culture, he grew the business to include multiple associates, hygienists and specialists.
“I think general dentistry was the place I always wanted to be,” said Chetty on not pursuing a specialty. “I wanted to be a family dentist. As a general dentist, you have the opportunity to build relationships with your patients. Now, 24 years into practicing, it’s amazing for me to see how those relationships have developed. I have patients who were also just starting their careers when I was starting mine, and we’ve kind of grown up together. Now our kids are the same ages, and that’s a fun dynamic. Those are special relationships and memories that not many people have.”
A History with AGD
An AGD leader himself, Chetty’s father inspired him to be a part of his community and to serve the profession. Chetty joined the Southern California AGD board in 2003 and continues to be an active leader. In that time, he has served as president of the Southern California AGD twice and as California AGD president in 2016. He also served as California AGD MasterTrack assistant director from 2015 to 2019. He helped transform the California MasterTrack program into one of the most comprehensive MasterTrack programs in AGD. And, as president of his constituent, he was instrumental in establishing its Pathway to Fellowship program to help encourage new dentists to attain their AGD Fellowship and eventually Mastership. Chetty continued to serve as an active board member of his constituent until he took office as AGD vice president in 2022.
“I owe everything about my practice and the success of my dental career to AGD,” Chetty said. “I would never have done the things I have done or achieved what I have achieved if I didn’t have that AGD education and philosophy throughout my career. AGD has given me the opportunity to be around some of the most amazing dentists I have ever known, and they encouraged and inspired me to do more with my career. You have to surround yourself with greatness to become great; those professional associations will force you to level up again and again.”
In 2011, Chetty was invited to serve on the AGD Communications Council. In his seven years as a member, he was involved in many significant projects, such as social media, digital publications and streamlining communications. In 2017, Chetty joined the Membership Council, of which he would eventually become chair. During this time, he worked closely with leaders at all levels to implement new initiatives that established a cohesive membership strategy. Having worked on two national councils so deeply entwined with directly serving AGD’s membership, Chetty is used to crafting new products and benefits to increase the value of AGD to general dentists. When asked what is AGD’s greatest member benefit, his answer was unequivocal: continuing education (CE).
“CE is the most special thing about AGD,” he said. “The focus of AGD CE is always to be able to learn something over the weekend and apply it immediately in your practice on Monday. We’ve all been to CE courses that are not AGD courses — some of them are pretty good, but a lot of times, you feel like you just got sold something. AGD CE focuses on practicality.”
“However,” he continued, “the secret sauce of AGD is the community. Having peers and friends who believe in the same kind of dentistry as you — who believe in providing excellent care — is a great thing. I found a great group of friends when I participated in the California AGD MasterTrack program. We finished our program in 2016, but, to this day, we still talk every single day. If you have a patient in the chair and something is not going the way you need it to, you can just message the text group chat, and someone will respond and tell you exactly what to do. We have a lot of relatable experiences, and we continue to push each other. CE is No. 1, but along with that comes engaging with the community of dentists within AGD who really believe in each other. AGD helps you find your people.”
But Chetty is also passionate about the benefits of AGD that members may not engage with directly.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the impact that AGD’s advocacy efforts have on our members,” he said. “That is kind of a secret, in a way, because the average dentist may not know all of the things we are doing for dentistry. I am very cognizant of the fact that a lot of the things I get to do today in my general practice are a result of battles that have been waged over the past several decades about dentistry and how we relate to specialists and even the medical profession. For example, in my practice, I do a lot of orthodontics and implants; I am very aware that I would not have that opportunity if AGD wasn’t there fighting in the legislative arena to protect our scope of practice. It’s enlightening to be on this side of leadership and see how the whole process works in terms of the efforts that we make as an organization and the passion from the people who are on the front lines of our initiatives. Our advocacy efforts benefit all general dentists, not just those who are AGD members, so it’s a huge impact.”
Challenges Ahead
When asked about the biggest challenges AGD is facing as an organization and how he plans to address them during his presidency, Chetty said:
“That’s the million-dollar question, but it’s also something we’ve been talking about within leadership for years. The Baby Boomer generation of dentists is starting to retire. As that happens, it’s changing the numbers and demographics of our membership. It’s also changing the needs of our membership, as many more of our members now work for corporate or large group practices. The landscape of dentistry is changing, and it’s important that we continue to evolve and ensure we are responsive to the needs of our members today. We need to continue to stay relevant, and one of the ways we can do that is elevate and support our constituents, which are able to better engage and support the different needs of dentists in individual areas and communities. Our strength as a national organization comes from our constituents and their grassroots-level understanding of what dentists need. We are also in the process of renewing our strategic plan, and I am really excited and passionate about the process of evaluating what works and what can be added or improved upon to make our organization better than ever. As long as we make decisions as an organization that are informed by the voices of our members and our leaders, that’s perfect.”
Chetty’s time as president will last until the end of the House of Delegates’ 2025 Annual Meeting, Nov. 14–16, 2025.
“I’m so excited to have the opportunity to give back to an organization that has given me so much,” he said. “I also want to acknowledge and thank my wife because she’s the one who really encouraged me to do this. She has been by my side every step of the way and has been so supportive in allowing me to fulfill this dream. None of this is about me; it’s about what I can do for this organization, and I’m ecstatic to have that opportunity.”
Caitlin Davis is associate editor of AGD Impact. To comment on this article, email impact@agd.org.
