Dr. Davis, Smiles of Santa Fe (N.M.), recently spoke with Becker’s about what led to him becoming a dentist.
Editor’s note: This response was lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: If you weren’t a dentist, what would you do for your career and why?
Dr. Michael Davis: I was born with a severe congenital foot deformity, talipes equinovarus, commonly known as clubfoot. As such, I received three surgeries and wore braces on my legs prior to my 4th birthday. I did not walk well for those initial years of life and was never expected to gain the ability to run and play sports (which I later did). Basically, I dragged my way around with my hands and forearms.
As an upside, I developed superior hand-eye coordination, fine hand skills and exceptional upper body strength. As a pre-teen, I built wood carving models, employed a working microscope by age seven, and by age 8 I was concocting multicolored smoke and stink bombs from my old-school chemistry set.
As a teenager, I worked with a crew on junk vehicles for demolition derby and stock figure-eight racing. Obviously, after high school I was destined for the trades. I could have been anything from plumbing, to electrical, to HVAC. A buddy was building housing along the Alaskan oil pipeline and asked me to manage a building crew. That seemed insane as I was only age 18.
Then came the draft and reality of the Vietnam War. I instantly became a supercharged academic. I especially loved chemistry, physics and biology lab.
Clinical dentistry has allowed me to continue with arts and crafts, if only on a miniature scale with exacting tolerances. It brings me joy to mentally solve problems, then create a structure to achieve that idealized design. Form, function and esthetics all come together.
I also have a strong sense of fairness and support for the underdog. Being dual-degreed in dentistry and law would have been an exciting adventure. That was not to be.
As for further developing my trade skills, that would have proven successful as a younger man. Today, I cherish the little time I have remaining in the dental profession. Retirement is approaching. I hear the trout calling me to the stream. Should I tie on an olive midge or black gnat?
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