I’m very excited to start this journey with you. I am a Buffalo, NY native, and I’m currently residing in the beautiful and amazing city of Los Angeles. I was born with a unilateral cleft lip and complete cleft palate. At this point, I have lost count of the number of surgeries I’ve had for the defects. My earliest surgery was when I was 2 months old, which was for the lip closure, and my latest surgery was about 2 months ago, which was due to a failing bone graft and consequently, failing dental implants after 10 years… but we can get more into that topic later. In between those, there have been around 20 surgeries including nose reconstruction, lip reconstruction, bone grafting, tubes in ears, and a perforated eardrum.
My incredible craniofacial team in Buffalo, NY was absolutely amazing and did such a great job with combining surgeries when possible and also with making me feel like I was part of a special family. Because of my experiences, I always knew I wanted to be in the medical field for my career choice. It wasn’t until I was at the tail end of my treatment that I realized exactly what I wanted to do. This was around the time I had finally had a successful bone grafting surgery to augment my alveolar bone defect from the cleft (bone was placed where my cleft defect was in the front and roof of my mouth), and I was ready for a final treatment plan for my missing right lateral and central incisors (front teeth on the right side). I was blown away by the organization and options presented to me by my prosthodontist (specialist in dentistry, focusing on anything fake being made outside of the mouth and going into the mouth). My mom, who was my biggest supporter, and I had decided to go with the option of dental implants and crowns.
After about a year of treatment, I could not believe how “normal” I felt with my new teeth. My confidence had soared, and I felt like I was finally able to live a more normal life, being able to bite into food and smiling without hesitation. What my prosthodontist did for me was much more than just provide me with a new smile. That was when I knew I wanted to be a prosthodontist.
I received my Bachelor of Science degree from SUNY Geneseo, and I went to dental school at University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, which was where I met my now-husband, Paul. Both Paul and I then went on for our residencies in Prosthodontics at West Virginia University School of Dentistry, where we also received our Master’s degrees. We have now been married for almost 3 years! Paul is the kindest, most loving, and supportive husband. We are currently in Los Angeles so he can complete his Maxillofacial Prosthetics training at UCLA. If you’ve ever had an obturator to close your palate due to a cleft defect (or any other defect), a maxillofacial prosthodontist is the one who does it! The fellowship is a year long, and after the year is up, we are moving back to Buffalo, NY to finally settle down.
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