{"id":8025,"date":"2023-05-02T09:54:40","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T13:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/?p=8025"},"modified":"2023-05-02T09:55:06","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T13:55:06","slug":"class-of-23-dental-work-as-child-inspired-grad-to-become-dentist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/2023\/05\/02\/class-of-23-dental-work-as-child-inspired-grad-to-become-dentist\/","title":{"rendered":"Class of ’23: Dental work as child inspired grad to become dentist"},"content":{"rendered":"

To mark the graduation of the Class of 2023, Marketing & Communications is profiling several students who were nominated by staff and faculty for their contributions to the University and their potential to make a difference after graduation.\u202fClick here<\/a>\u00a0for more information about 2023 commencement exercises.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"TreyTrey Hester\u2019s interest in dentistry was sparked by his own dental work.<\/p>\n

As a child, Hester was bullied for having a misalignment with his teeth and had to wear braces for four years to fix it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy two front teeth were crisscrossed,\u201d he said. \u201cI had some developmental issues and my teeth were just not coming in straight.\u201d<\/p>\n

As his orthodontist appointments neared their end, Hester became intrigued by the panoramic x-rays of his teeth and the treatment process. Dentistry remained on his mind when he chose to write about the profession for a book report on careers in ninth grade.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 14 years old, I said, \u2018I\u2019m going to be a dentist,\u2019\u201d Hester said.<\/p>\n

Hester will have accomplished his childhood goal when he graduates from University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s School of Dentistry in May. He will start his career by working as an associate at Afdent\u2019s Fort Wayne, Ind., office later this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very humbling experience, and it feels good because it\u2019s been a very long journey,\u201d Hester said. \u201cA lot of years, a lot of sacrifices because I was focused on this one goal. I\u2019ll have a Detroit Mercy degree, and that means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of their education, UDM students provide treatment and care to southeast Michigan residents. Hester relishes being able to help patients feel better about their smile, a full-circle moment from his own dental journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a patient break down in tears once,\u201d Hester said. \u201cI\u2019m not an emotional guy, but seeing a patient who said they hadn\u2019t had teeth in years, to have such a profound impact on a person by giving them confidence in their smile, it almost brought me to tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing that you\u2019re doing something that\u2019s bigger than you and impacting somebody to their core, for them to be able to chew, eat, smile, it makes all the long nights and hard work worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hester loves the art of dentistry and how he can fuse creativity with science to help people. He wants to master his craft and open his own clinic one day. But he\u2019s also passionate about making a difference in both his community and profession.<\/p>\n

Only 3.8% of dentists in the United States are Black, according to a 2020 study by the American Dental Association. It\u2019s a percentage Hester hopes to increase.<\/p>\n

He serves on a board at Crockett Midtown High School and is slated to be the school\u2019s commencement speaker this year. He\u2019s introduced high school students to dentistry by attending career fairs with UDM representatives. Additional programming brings youth to the Corktown Campus and connects School of Dentistry students and faculty with the community through outreach initiatives, clinics and pipeline programs.<\/p>\n

Outside the classroom and dental clinic, Hester volunteers at his church, Northwest Church of Christ, assisting with Forgotten Harvest giveaways.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there are not many African Americans in dentistry. I am a big proponent of you cannot be what you cannot see,\u201d he said. \u201cIf people don\u2019t understand and see that it\u2019s even possible, it\u2019s not going to start to the light bulb to flip in their heads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hester arrived at UDM\u2019s School of Dentistry in 2019 following a gap year where he worked with periodontist Anthony Neely, who is an associate professor at UDM, as well as endodontists Todd Ester and Brad Griffin at University of Michigan.<\/p>\n

He remembers being wowed while visiting the Corktown Campus as an undergraduate student at Michigan State University and participating in the Summer Enrichment Program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was dental Wall Street,\u201d he said. \u201cI was enamored with the whole facility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HesterAt UDM, Hester was involved with the American Dental Education Association\u2019s GoDental events and worked as an admissions ambassador. He represented the School of Dentistry at National Dental Association conventions in Orlando and Philadelphia and was a member of the Increasing Diversity in Dentistry (IDID) Pipeline Initiative.<\/p>\n

Hester glows about his UDM experience, which he shares with fellow students through these opportunities.<\/p>\n

“I really do love the fact that the clinical experience is second to none,\u201d Hester said, noting that he\u2019s extracted nearly 150 teeth and performed root canals, all while learning from faculty.<\/p>\n

As he starts his career, Hester is confident that UDM has prepared him for success. Over the past four years, he would compare his experience with peers at other dental schools and felt \u201cour curriculum was a little bit tougher than theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that I\u2019m on my way out and I can see the clinical growth, I\u2019m just so happy that I chose to go to this school for my clinical skills. I feel very confident in a lot of different procedures, and I can 100% credit that to Detroit Mercy curriculum. A lot of the professors give you that respect, like we\u2019re colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hester, who grew up outside of Atlanta, is grateful that his dental journey brought him back to Detroit, where he was born. He lived with his grandfather on Detroit\u2019s west side while studying at UDM.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud to be here in Detroit, always came back for the summers,\u201d Hester said. \u201cDetroit Mercy kind of matches the energy of the city. Detroit is a blue collar, gritty city. I just felt like every day I went into Detroit Mercy, I had to put on my hard hat and bring a lunch because I knew that I was going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To mark the graduation of the Class of 2023, Marketing & Communications is profiling several students who were nominated by staff and faculty for their contributions to the University and their potential to make a difference after graduation.\u202fClick here\u00a0for more information about 2023 commencement exercises. Trey Hester\u2019s interest in dentistry …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":8026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[29,6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2023\/05\/trey_hester_side_1.jpeg?fit=400%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Kcng-25r","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8025"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8025"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8028,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8025\/revisions\/8028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}