Dr. DeWood graduated from Case Western Reserve in 1980. She was in general private practice until 2002, when she decided to pursue an orthodontics education and career. She graduated from Tennessee in 2005, and has been practicing Orthodontics ever since. She was the acting clinic director in the orthodontics program in Tennessee until 2009. Dr. DeWood also earned her PhD in Health Policy from Tennessee in 2011, and is currently serving as Associate Professor at Midwestern University Dental School. She’s been in private practice since 2012. What especially interested me about Dr. DeWood is that she has a unique perspective on dentistry, as she chose to become an orthodontist after 22 years as a general dentist — and has seen both side of the proverbial coin.
Cheryl’s favorite quote and why:
“If you wanna make God laugh, make plans.” And Cheryl says if you get too focused on a specific outcome that you desire, you may miss opportunities if another option presents itself.
What Cheryl does for the dental profession:
Cheryl is currently teaching at a Dental School, and hopes that she’s helping dentists when she’s teaching. She says if she have to choose between going back to doing private practice and teaching, she would choose education. She believes that in education, the stuff you know can reach further, and the influence is far more reaching.
Cheryl’s insights about General Dentistry and Orthodontics:
Cheryl says that if you are an orthodontist and have not done any general dentistry, then you don’t know what you don’t know about general dentistry — and vice versa. She believes that if you want to do what’s in the best interest of the patient, somehow you have to enclose that gap. She found one of the useful thing is to join study clubs or groups where you get together and talk about different cases.
She says that one of the most difficult thing is if you have a particular case that you need to have orthodontics done, and you’ve never talked to the orthodontist before about restorative cases, you are basically reinventing the wheel for every single case. So if you create a system of communication where it’s not the first time for every single case, then it’s going to be a lot more efficient.
Another thing that will be really helpful is if people didn’t go directly from dental school into grad specialty programs.
What is concerning or exciting Cheryl right now about dentistry:
Cheryl thinks it’s exciting that people are now being more appreciative of the value of dentistry, and what it can do for them. Also, the whole landscape of what’s possible with some of the new technologies like dental implants, which used to be a ‘science fiction’ back when she was still studying; now, it’s almost a requirement.
On the other side, one thing that concerns Cheryl is the debt that students have when they get out of school — which makes things harder for them.
The best advice Cheryl has ever received:
“You can never assign motive to someone else.” When someone has done something to you, and you think you know why they have done it, and you respond based on your presumed motive or thought process, you can’t do that. If you have to assign motive, assign the best, positive motive you can.
The one habit that contributes to her success:
“Just do it now.” If there is something that needs to be done, do it now.
Clinical or Management pearl (tip):
Praise your helpers — out loud — in front of your patients, whenever possible. Not only will your helpers love it, but your patients as well. She was told that the way the patients make an opinion about your practice, is how you treat the people who work with you.
Technology or procedure that is exciting Cheryl right now:
Cheryl is converting all of her lectures to the wide screen PowerPoint format, and also restructuring them to be more helpful, based on the feedback she got from her previous students.
Internet / App resource that Cheryl feels is awesome:
Google Scholar. You can get a lot of article or information that you want — for free.
Cheryl’s book recommendation:
“Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar–Your Brain’s Silent Killers” by David Perlmutter
- Paperback edition can be purchased on Amazon here.
- Kindle edition can be purchased on Amazon here.
- Audiobook edition from Amazon Audible can be purchased here.
“Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease” by Robert H. Lustig
- Paperback edition can be purchased on Amazon here.
- Kindle edition can be purchased on Amazon here.
- Audiobook edition from Amazon Audible can be purchased here.
Cheryl’s advice for people who wants to start a new practice:
Network with people you trust. Don’t reinvent the wheel; almost anything you wanna do, somebody has done, so if you have the opportunity to actually work with someone, that will be fantastic.
Also, it’s important not to forget why you are doing what you doing.
Dr. Cheryl DeWood can be reached at:
Email:
- dwoodorthodontics@gmail.com (personal)
- cdewood@midwestern.edu (university)