A Trusted Profession
Addressing problems such as these, he told the graduates, should be a high priority—as well as serving as role models to the community at large. “All of us must serve as living role models for everyone from our patients to children to those who may be future dentists,” Valachovic said. “It is part of our responsibility to our profession and to ourselves to do so. “I hope that the one-on-one personal delivery of your hood and your degree will forever forge in your minds and hearts the distinctly personal nature of the dental professions and the powerful personal responsibility it entails.” Wishing the graduates a lifetime of success, he noted, “On this day, this turning point in your lives, I extend to you my heartiest congratulations for how far you’ve come and wish you the greatest of success with how far you’re going to go.” n
“Dentistry was found to be among the most trusted professions in a recent Gallup poll. Another poll found that nearly 90 percent of adult patients were satisfied with services provided by their dental professionals.” DR. RICHARD W. VALACHOVIC
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F A L L / W I N T ER 2013
Valachovic urged the graduates to honor their hardearned good fortune by being excellent stewards of a noble profession. “Aside from the obvious dedication to becoming a competent and caring practitioner to your patients and a supportive colleague to your associates,” he said, “part of being a professional is realizing that your education doesn’t end with this commencement ceremony. It is critical for your future as a professional that you make a commitment to lifelong learning. “Your degree gives you opportunities and responsibilities that are pretty awesome. We all need to respect these responsibilities as a professional every day of our lives.”
Turning Point
MOUTH
Lifelong Learning
He particularly stressed the importance of treating the underserved and enhancing access to dentistry. “Low-income individuals, minorities, and those with limited education,” he said, “are particularly at risk for dental problems and have the highest incidence of oral disease; yet members of those groups, who are often living in underserved rural and urban areas, also have the least access to dental care.”
WORD OF
Another modern-day boon to the profession, he noted, is the esteem associated with it. “Dentistry was found to be among the most trusted professions in a recent Gallup poll,” he said. “Another poll found that nearly 90 percent of adult patients were satisfied with services provided by their dental professionals.” But the most fulfilling thing about dentistry today, Valachovic said, is that the profession can—and does— help more people than ever before. “Complementing these trends—and certainly contributing to my continuing assessment of this time as a wonderful era for us—is the massive expansion in procedures and techniques that enable all of us to serve our patients better than ever before,” he said. “These improvements range from implant dentistry to aesthetic dentistry to novel orthodontic treatments to improved surgical treatments and tissue engineering—and beyond. “Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about dental caries as much anymore and can concentrate on the real health issues of sustaining oral health and helping people keep their teeth for a lifetime.”