Why did I choose dentistry?

I came to the United States in 1993 from a very small town in Georgia in the former Soviet Union. My passion was always dentistry because, in Georgia, dental health problems are very widespread. I remember going to the community dental center with my mother as a child and seeing the suffering she went through as she had to have teeth painfully extracted. I hated the pain part of that experience and the lengthy recovery that came afterwards. She said to me on one occasion, “you need to become a dentist and help me get my teeth back”. So, in 1991 I graduated from college in Georgia to become a dental technician and help people in similar situations. When I immigrated to this country I knew I wanted to continue to pursue my education in dentistry and provide my patients with completely healthy and beautiful smiles. I have always strived for perfection in all things and graduated from Tufts University’s School of Dental Medicine in 2004 as the #1 student in my class. From there I went on to take hundreds of hours of specialty courses in advanced techniques such as veneers, oral surgery, root canal therapy, orthodontics, and implants. With this extensive training and talent I have been able to save many people from the kind of suffering I witnessed people in Georgia go through and, of course, was able to completely rehabilitate my mother’s smile.Today, I own and work at three practices in Cambridge and Somerville. I have five associate dentists whom I take great joy in teaching and guiding and love being a leader to my amazing teams. I am dedicated to employing many talented professionals who are also immigrants to the United States and am proud to have created an Avalon Dental Center family that speaks many languages and comes from many backgrounds. I continue to be passionate about creating ideal smiles for my patients and am excited by the aesthetic possibilities of dentistry. I love being able to help my patients achieve the kind of smile they’ve always wanted through advanced techniques like veneers and implants, while also assuring that their teeth and gums remain completely healthy for life. I believe that what I do in my practices not only makes a patient’s mouth healthier, but can truly make them feel better as a whole person and encourage them to achieve bigger and better things in all aspects of their life..