Growing up, I never imagined that I would have become a dentist, let alone an orthodontist. I had never been to the orthodontist as a child, and much to my chagrin, I never had braces. Like every other child, I had grandiose dreams of being a veterinarian at the local zoo, a courageous firefighter, and for a short period of time, even a professional dancer. It wasn’t until college that I decided to start thinking about entering the healthcare field. My interest was not sparked by the typical molecular biology or biochemistry courses, rather, it was a public health and epidemiology course that I signed up for because my friends told me I could get an “easy A.” While sometimes I still get confused by the difference between sensitivity and specificity tests, I will always remember one main takeaway—I realized that I wanted to have the ability to contribute to and help foster systems that would enable marginalized populations to access care. Fast forwarding through all the decisions that led me to pursue orthodontics, I knew that once I started my residency, I wanted to find a way to integrate this mission into some aspect of my career.
Two years ago, I signed up to be a member of the American Association of Orthodontists’ National Advocacy Network to serve as the American Dental Association and Dental Specialty State Liaison for Massachusetts. Involvement in this network has afforded me the opportunity to make palpable changes towards some of the greatest challenges facing both our profession and our patients today– the student loan debt crisis, patient safety and ensuring equitable and quality dental care, and the modification of healthcare benefits to assist families with the financial burden of orthodontics. Acquiring the skills necessary to advocate for policies that ensure our patients the right to a high-quality standard of orthodontic care is of paramount importance. Through this type of advocacy work, I feel that I am working towards that goal that I set for myself years ago—changing people’s lives and smiles with clinical orthodontics chairside, while simultaneously helping patients that I may never personally treat by championing policies that support our profession and our collective patients in the community.
Dr. Matthew Evers
Chestnut Hill, MA