I used to think that having false teeth was something people who did not brush their teeth would get when all their real teeth fell out. That was when I was a kid and my parents always told me to brush my teeth so that when I was older, I would not need false teeth like my grandparents, who were really old.

Now, I understand that there are many reasons why people might need them and that not just taking care of your teeth is the only reason. The reason that I know this is because I am studying pediatric dentistry and this is my third year of seeing perfectly healthy children have major medical issues which is making their teeth decay quickly.

When I chose to go into pediatric dentistry many years ago, I thought that I would be cleaning little kids teeth getting them ready to start losing them and then seeing the new adult teeth come in and explain to them how to take care of them. I have been doing something much different since working at the cancer hospital and children who are having trouble with other things, not just their teeth. I love my job and helping out these kids so that they may or may not need false teeth is a very rewarding career.