Oral Health Month Student Spotlight

April is Oral Health Month! The School of Dentistry is excited to recognize the importance of maintaining good oral health. Here, dentistry student Rajwant Chima (DDS ‘24) shares why she chose dentistry as a profession and offers some tips for good oral health care.

What got you interested in dentistry?
Dentistry offers the immense satisfaction and joy of transforming a patient’s life by restoring their oral health. My interest in dentistry was sparked by how big of an influence dental treatment has on someone’s life. For example, orthodontic treatment can completely change a person’s smile, their confidence and hence their life experiences.

What does oral health care mean to you?
Oral health doesn’t just mean to get someone out of dental pain but it includes ways to prevent oral disease and to restore as well as maintain optimum function as well as esthetics.

If there is one tip or piece of advice you could give your patients, what would it be?
Keeping up with your routine dental appointments provides the dental health-care team with the opportunity to catch any oral diseases early. This means you will require fewer complex treatments in the long run.

What do you love most about your profession?
I love interacting with my patients, learning about their day, and it gives me joy to hear a patient sharing something about their life.

What does leading with purpose mean to you?
As a dentist I have an opportunity to contribute to the community by providing health care to those populations that lack access to or have challenges around the affordability of oral health care.