After one visit, Olivia M.* was adamant. She did not want to come back for more dental appointments. But Deepika Gopalan refused to budge, telling Olivia that missing her appointments was not an option if she wanted to overcome her fear.
“She just never gave up on me,” said Olivia.
It has been more than a year since Olivia’s first appointment at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine (CU SDM), where she was paired with Gopalan, a dental student in the Advanced Standing International Student Program (ISP) Class of 2024.
Olivia is among the 36 percent of Americans who fear the dentist. Considering her history, it is no surprise she felt scared. By the age of 25, she had already had extensive dental work. She remembers going to the dentist as a kid with her siblings and being the only one in the family to have multiple cavities.
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“I would be thrown into complete panic attacks upon arriving at any dental clinic,” she said.
Olivia works as a phlebotomist and is a student at CU Denver preparing for radiology school. She had been ignoring her teeth because she wasn’t sure how she would pay for care.
“I was a broke college student barely making it, but the School of Dental Medicine enticed me,” she said. “This is when I got to meet the coolest dentist ever–Deepika Gopalan.”
Gopalan was understanding of Olivia’s fear.
“I realized that there was a deeper reason that Olivia was missing appointments, so I had to think about it from her perspective. I tried to make her feel comfortable by talking her through the procedures and making sure she felt in control throughout the appointment,” Gopalan said.
She also worked with Olivia to address her financial concerns. Since CU Dental can offer care at a lesser rate than private practices, Gopalan helped space the timing of her appointments so Olivia could get the work she needed and be able to afford it.
“Deepika is kind, straightforward, and very professional. There is just something about her that makes coming back to the dental school so much easier,” Olivia said. “I was absolutely terrified at first, but I am so happy I got matched with her over a year ago. She single-handedly eradicated my fear of the dentist.”
Over the course of a year, Olivia needed multiple root canals and crowns.
CU Dental uses advanced dental technology to improve efficiency, accuracy and predictability in patient care. It was Gopalan’s first time using digital dentistry technology, and she worked with faculty mentor Thomas Greany, DDS '97, director of academic technology initiatives. Together they used an intraoral scanner to acquire a digital 3D model of Olivia’s tooth. That model was then used to design a digital crown in the school’s Digital Design Studio. The digital model of her crown was used to mill the physical crown from a block of zirconia, which was then fired in a ceramic oven to produce a tooth restoration that is functional and esthetically compatible with the other teeth.
“Deepika gets a lot of credit for putting Olivia at ease, but I also think our digital dentistry helped,” Greany said. “Intraoral scanning eliminates the need for traditional dental impression materials, which causes some patients to gag or is otherwise perceived as a negative sensory experience. Scanning takes three-dimensional pictures of the mouth, and the scan probe never touches the teeth or gums.”
Olivia said Greany’s involvement in her care also helped the overall experience. “He told me he treats everyone in his chair like his own kid. He said he didn’t care how old or young you are, ‘when you’re in my seat, I’m going to take care of you.’ And that meant a lot.”
So did Gopalan’s thoroughness.
“The attention to detail is insane. I’ve never gotten that level of care anywhere. She made sure the crowns were adjusted perfectly, and she said she wanted them to remain as comfortable as my other teeth,” Olivia said.
Gopalan attributes her attention to detail to her background as a dentist and oral pathologist from India.
“My journey at CU has been incredible with the amazing faculty and state-of-the-art technology. My learning with digital dentistry has reached an entirely new level,” she said.
While Olivia said her relationship with Gopalan started as a “love-hate relationship,” she is grateful to be well on her way to a beautiful—and functional—new smile.
“Deepika kept me accountable. My fear was deeply rooted—pun intended. I don’t know how she did it, but my fear is gone. I really appreciate her making my life a lot better. Teeth are important. And if she hadn’t pushed me as hard as she did, I wouldn’t be here with such great teeth right now.” - Olivia M., patient
Gopalan will soon graduate from CU Dental with a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. She said, “I am looking forward to practicing dentistry in the U.S. and making a positive impact on patients’ lives.”
*Patient's full name has been redacted to protect privacy.