Why should one expand his education to the fullest extent as an orthodontist and into a specific specialization instead of just a general dentist?

Austin Henry

Mrs. Pearce/ Pre-Ap English II

Research Paper

May 6, 2016

Hide Today and Smile Tomorrow

As George Sam of the U.S. National Library of Medicine wrote, “[The] majority of the students who had chosen orthodontics as their future specialty of choice at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University Dental College, Saudi Arabia had taken up this specialty because they felt that orthodontics was intellectually challenging.” The field of orthodontics is a challenging yet a superior career. From the simplest monthly check up to the most complex case of misalignment; an orthodontist loves his job and his daily work. An orthodontist has the opportunity to make a once shy child stuck in his shell come out of his shell to embrace the world for a better tomorrow. To even consider becoming an orthodontist, one must be in the top five percent of his class at dentistry school; making the highest grades and practicing in the lab during his free time. An orthodontist goes the extra mile in what he does for the best results. Now having a better understanding of the world of dentistry and orthodontic; knowing what it takes to become an orthodontist in preparation of being in the field of orthodontics, orthodontics as a career choice in the many career options possible to me and how exploring this topic taught me the daily work of an orthodontist as well as general information of an orthodontist, and finally, how orthodontists helps the world and how each person is outshined by the finishing results after visiting the orthodontist in comparison to their first visit.

Ten to twelve years of schooling is required to becoming an orthodontist. Before an orthodontist is considered an orthodontist, he or she must obtain a bachelor’s degree from their university or college of choice with a degree of their choice, but taking courses in science is strongly recommended because of prerequisites (Applying for Dental School). Also, all orthodontists should gain experience in business owning and take classes of this subject in college because he may want to open his own practice in the future; business classes are not offered at dentistry school. Then, the graduate must attend a dentistry school; these are the three to choose from in Texas: The University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston, Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry [at Dallas], and finally, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The first two years of dental school is known to be fast, restless, and furious between lectures, long classes, and “free time” in the lab and also preparing and taking the first half of National Board Dental Examination; then the last two years of dental school seem to slow down with less classes and fewer lectures, but speed up with the time in the dental clinic treating patients under the supervision of a professor, and also preparing and taking the other half of the National Board Dental Examination (American Dental Association). Furthermore to becoming an orthodontist, a dental school graduate in the top five percent of his class can apply as an intern at an orthodontics practice of his choice. An internship as an orthodontist can vary between two to four years of gaining the ideal skills needed to become an orthodontist, but as Bruce Donoff states, “Although many look at the report as a call to make dental education 3 years rather than 4, it was the quality, not the time, which was important to [him].” Those few years as an intern are crucial to the next 40 years of an orthodontists life. It’s the foundation of all known experience, and as I said earlier, a dentist can choose any of the thousands of possible orthodontics offices, but choosing the one that he will learn from, he will gain experience from with the best knowledge is the one where he should decide upon.  The pathway to becoming an orthodontist is stressful, complicated, and has a very demanding work load, but at the end of the difficult journey, the next several years of an orthodontist is used to help others; not only to have straight teeth, but to give them the opportunity to outshine and completely change the way they look at the world with a better smile.

For that one year, every six weeks I would visit Dr. Spencer’s office down on Fourth Street. I enjoyed going to the orthodontist. At the time, I didn’t know why I liked it so much, but as I grew older, I understood why I appreciated going so much. While not everybody enjoys visiting their orthodontist, “dentistry [including orthodontics] is one of the ten most trusted and ethical professions in America” (Explore the Dental Profession). Of course, I would trust my orthodontist; he put a bracket of metal in my mouth that I couldn’t remove without him removing it from my mouth. Within this research, I discovered how interesting the daily life of an orthodontist really is. Yes, orthodontists do make a lot of money, roughly Texas orthodontists make up to $196,000 per year, but aside from that, orthodontics really seems like an interesting career choice. Seeing patients visit after visit, loosening and tightening braces, making molds, and just enjoying life as an orthodontist seemed perfect to me. According to Dr. Guymon of Myron D. Guymon Orthodontics, Dr. Guymon usually begins his day examining x-rays and studying patients’ charts to understand the most possible for the best results. He discusses with his team the daily schedule just before his first patient walks through the doors; then the busy day begins. Throughout the day, an orthodontist will visit new patients, returning patients, and rarely but possible, work emergency cases. As well as dentistry being a trusted career, dentistry is an in-demand profession that will always be needed in American culture; not only for that perfect smile, but also to improve self hygiene and word pronunciation by correcting: an overbite/underbite that causes jaw pain or discomfort and low self-esteem issues, an open bite caused by thumb-sucking that has awkward teeth placement and making it difficult to talk and chew, finally, excessive teeth spacing where most people with this issue sound like they have a slight lisp (Explore the Dental Profession and Dr. Spencer of Spencer Orthodontics). As of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job opportunity of an orthodontist will increase sixteen percent by 2022. This number is increasing not only by the interest orthodontics brings, but also an increase of people needing basic and also advanced dental services as stated earlier . The opportunity of this growth allows me to have a definite job with the several years of schooling I have to go through and finally finished by 2029. The daily life of an orthodontist is exciting, enthusiastic, and very eventful with the new and old patients, the molding, the checking of each patients that walks through the door, and the constant fast pace being an orthodontist brings (Myron D. Guymon).

An orthodontist isn’t just a man living in a nice house, in nice clothes with a nice wife, no, he is much more. When people think about an orthodontist, they mostly think of the money he makes and how expensive his help is, but think of the end result of a smile that’s out of this world. The schooling it takes, the career, and the aftereffect of helping people amazes me and orthodontics is seriously a career I am seriously interested in. The learning doesn’t stop when he graduates residency. An orthodontists spends his lifetime learning new techniques, new skills, and often new equipment to better his patients. In order for an orthodontist to fully become his highest potential with challenges, he has to learn even after his schooling if finished.

 

Works Cited

Admin. “Health Effects of Having an Overbite.” Surgical Arts Centre. 20 July 2015. Web. 20 Apr.

       2016.

Brown, Danielle. “How Dental School Works: A Year-by-year Guide.” Gap Medics US. 06

    Nov. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Danoff, Bruce, DMD. “An Internship Year for All Dental Graduates.” DentalAEGIS.

    July-Aug. 2008. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

Demas, Don. “Change the World – Team Demas Orthodontics.” Team Demas

    Orthodontics. 23 July 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

Evans, David, DDS. “THE HISTORY OF BRACES & ORTHODONTICS.” History of

    Braces and Orthodontics. 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

Gymon, Myron D. “A Day in the Life.” Guymonortho. 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

“Orthodontist Salary: Too Good to Be True! – Orthodontist Career.” Orthodontist Career.     

    20 July 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

Thompson, Joseph. “How to Become an Orthodontist.” Ask an Orthodontist.com RSS.

  1. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Current Event Assignment

Topic: Post Paris Attack

Title: A third body has been found in the rubble of an apartment where the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks was killed in a fierce shootout with police, prosecutors said Friday.

Date Published: November 20, 2015

Published by: News Wire

Summary: Days after the attack, a suspected ringleader was found in the rubble of a fallen apartment. The person was killed the day of the attack in a fire range with police to the suspected shooters. The deceased person attempted to escape the apartment when she discovered the suicide bomber in the building, just to be shot while exiting the building.  The woman body can not be identified by the police.

Reaction: With a dramatic event, there is suspected to be a few missing bodies.

World Impact: The world was lit in blue, white, and red of the France flag. The world had supported Paris and France as a country as they needed.

 

 

News Wire 

Current Event Assignment

Topic: Jihadi John targeted in U.S. Drone Strike

Title: U.S. ‘reasonably certain’ drone strike killed ISIS mouthpiece ‘Jihadi John’

Date Published: November 13, 2015

Published by: Greg Botelho and Barbara Starr oc CNN

Summary: The United States aimed a drone strike at a targeted vehicle and killed everyone in the vehicle, and Mohammed Emwazi, also known as, “Jihadi John”. “We are reasonably certain that we killed the target that we intended to kill, which is Jihadi John,” the Army spokesman said. “…This guy was a human animal, and killing him is probably making the world a little bit better place.” The United States had been tracking Emwazi closely since Wednesday, which isn’t a long period at all, and he was seen leaving a building and getting into a car Thursday, U.S. officials said, then the U.S. made the move. “We always said we will do whatever is necessary to track down Emwazi and stop him taking the lives of others,” David Cameron said. Many people don’t believe people should mourn over his death. As to Emwazi himself, Woodward-Styles added, “I don’t think he deserves the attention that his apparent death is causing. I think he was a coward.”

Reaction: I am going to agree with Woodward-Style by not mourning over his death. This is no big deal to me.

World Impact: This could only possibly impact the world if and only if we mourn over the death of Jihadi John. This would impact Isis more than anything.

CNN.com

 

Current Event Assignment

Written on Thursday, October 22, 2015

Topic: Highest temperatures recorded in 2015.

Title: 2015 Likely to Be Hottest Year Ever Recorded

Date published: October 21, 2015

Published by: Justin Gillis of New York Times

Summary: Global temperatures are running far above last year’s record-setting level, all but guaranteeing that 2015 will be the hottest year in the historical record. The extreme heat and related climate disturbances mean that delegates to a global climate conference scheduled for Paris in early December will almost certainly be convening as weather-related disasters are unfolding around the world, putting them under greater political pressure to reach an ambitious deal to limit future emissions and slow the temperature increase. Measurements in several of the world’s ocean basins, where surface temperatures are as much as three degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average.

Reaction: This year has been so hot and it just needs to end. This comes to no surprise when I read this article. It’s October at this moment and the daily temperatures range from 83 to 95 degrees. Last year, the warm weather did not last this long into the fall months. Temperatures in summer of 2015 were hot. I have never seen so many sunburns in one summer before. So many people getting blistered from the burns.

World Impact: This is globally affected. The world has suffered from high temperatures. Cities and oceans are overheated and many people are concerned because the human race can not control this.

New York Times

 

Photojournalism Vocabulary

pixels- a minute area of illumination on a display screen, one of many from which an image is composed

image resolution- a minute area of illumination on a display screen, one of many from which an image is composed

megabyte- a minute area of illumination on a display screen, one of many from which an image is composed

megapixel – a unit of graphic resolution equivalent to one million or (strictly) 1,048,576 (220) pixels.

Gigabyte- a unit of information equal to one billion (109) or, strictly, 230 bytes.

jpeg- a format for compressing image files.

raw-  a file that contains minimally processed data from their image sensor of either a digital camera, image scanner, or motion picture film scanner.

tiff- The ability to store image data in a lossless format makes a TIFF file a useful image archive, because, unlike standard JPEG files, a TIFF file using lossless compression (or none) may be edited and re-saved without losing image quality. This is not the case when using the TIFF as a container holding compressed JPEG.

PNG- (pronounced ping as in ping-pong; for Portable Network Graphics) is a file format for image compression that, in time, is expected to replace the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) that is widely used on today’s Internet.

Histogram- is a graphical representation of the distribution of numerical data. It is an estimate of the probability distribution of a continuous variable.

Aperture- a hole or an opening through which light travels.

Shutter speed- the length of time when the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light, also when a camera’s shutter is open when taking a photograph. The amount of light that reaches the film or image sensor is proportional to the exposure time.

Depth of field- the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph.

Noise- The occurrence of color dots or specks where there should be none.

Lag time- Refers to latency, or lag measured by the difference between the time there is a signal input, and the time it takes the input to display on the screen.

Hot shoe- A mounting point on the top of a camera to attach a flash unit and other compatible accessories.

Fisheye- A lens of small focal length, having a highly curved protruding front element, that covers an angle of view of almost 180°.

Aperture priority- a setting on some cameras that allows the user to choose a specific aperture value while the camera selects a shutter speed to match, thereby ensuring proper exposure

Shutter priority- a setting on some cameras that allows the user to choose a specific shutter speed while the camera adjusts the aperture to ensure correct exposure.

Bitmap- mapping from some domain (for example, a range of integers) to bits, that is, values which are zero or one. It is also called a bit array or bitmap index.

White balance- the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo.

Exposure-the act of exposing, laying open, or uncovering:

Watermarking- a kind of marker covertly embedded in a noise-tolerant signal such as an audio, video or image data. It is typically used to identify ownership of the copyright of such signal.

Optical Zoom- allows you to zoom in (or out) on the subject in the LCD or viewfinder. This will enable you to get a closer view of the subject before taking your picture.

Macro ~ a lens suitable for taking photographs unusually close to the subject.

Telephoto ~ a lens with a longer focal length than standard, giving a narrow field of view and a magnified image.

Wide Angle ~ (of a lens) having a short focal length and hence a field covering a wide angle.

DSLR ~ A digital single-lens reflex camera (also called a digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera combining the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor, as opposed to photographic film.

an exposure system used in some automatic cameras in which the aperture is selected by the user and the appropriate shutter speed is controlled automatically., shutter priority, bitmap, exposure

Digital zoom: is a function of a digital camera used to make the image seem more close-up.Digital Zoom on a digital camera works the same as cropping and enlarging a photo in a graphics program.

bracketing: place (one or more people or things) in the same category or group.

light meter:an instrument for measuring the intensity of light, used chiefly to show the correct exposure when taking a photograph.

Image stabilization: (IS) is a family of techniques used to reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure.

dynamic range-is the difference between the smallest and largest usable signal through a transmission or processing chain or storage medium. It is measured as a ratio, or as a base-10 (decibel) or base-2 (doublings, bits or stops) logarithmic value.

digital negative(DNG) is an open lossless raw image format written by Adobe used for digital photography. It was launched on September 27, 2004.

exposure compensation-Exposure compensation is a technique for adjusting the exposure indicated by a photographic exposure meter, in consideration of factors that may cause the indicated exposure to result in a less-than-optimal imag

 

OPEC

OPEC was established Baghdad, Iraq on September 14, 1960. The organization is based upon petroleum and natural gas. OPEC was formed when the international oil market was largely dominated by a group of multinational companies known as the ‘seven sister’. A country to show for example is Venezuela where it is the world’s fifth largest oil exporting country and has the world’s largest proven oil reserves at an estimated 296.5 billion barrels as of 2012. OPEC’s mandate is to “coordinate and unify the petroleum policies” of its members and to “ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers, and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry.

 

Current Event Assignment

Written on October 8, 2015

Topic: America is shortening on veggies.

Title: The American Food Shortage You Knew Nothing About

Date Published: October 2, 2015

Published by: Daniel Jennings of Off The Grid News

Summary: Around 1.65 cups of vegetables were available per person per day in the United States as of 2013.  We all know from our moms telling us to eat our veggies, dietary guidelines recommend we consume 2.5 to 3 cups of vegetables per day. The supply of vegetables have fallen for us since 2000. Back then, almost 16 years ago, vegetables available peaked at 1.8. Since then, the supply of vegetables have fallen 15 percent. Fifty percent of vegetables available to us are potatoes and tomatoes, but most people consume these in unhealthy forms such as french fries with ketchup, which go perfectly together. The government is telling Americans to eat healthy, but we are not able to do so with a shortage of what we need most.

Reaction: Most of our vegetables we grow domestically, so this could be dangerous. I personally wouldn’t want my squash coming from Brazil, or my tomatoes soon to come from Mexico.

World Impact: This, as of right now, only impacts the United States, but as the strongest country, America will go to neighboring countries for help. We will possibly fall when we run out of vegetables. We will become obese, more so than we currently are considered.

Off The Grid News

Current Event Assignment

Topic: Hackers stole US fingerprints.

Title: Hackers stole 5.6 million US fingerprints – more than estimated

Date Published: September 29, 2015

Published by: Students News Daily

Summary: Hackers now have 5.6 million US citizens, government worker and employees fingerprints on Office of Personnel Management (OPM) file, more than the expected of just over 1.1 million hacked. Hackers now have a gigantic database which can be used to positively identify the true identities of those employees. China may be the number one suspect behind this ruckus. Its purpose is to better spy on America — by blackmailing individuals or outing their true identities.

Reaction: Hackers amaze me so much. The amount of labor they put into their work looks to may off. They sometimes receive so much from so little.

World Impact: Not necessarily impacting the world, but does impact China between the United States. We are blaming  China and making them our number one suspect for the cause.  

 

Students News Daily