July 14, 2024 • 23 mins
What happens when dreams shift, and a personal transformation redirects your career path? Join us in this episode of Dental-ish as we welcome Dr. Akidra Bell, a dedicated dentist and mentor, who reveals her inspiring journey from aspiring pediatrician to a leading figure in dentistry. Dr. Bell shares the pivotal moments, including a smile transformation, that led to her current career, and reflects on the unique challenges she faced as a minority lacking mentors and resources. Her determination now fuels her passion for mentoring others, and her story of graduating during the COVID-19 pandemic and completing her residency at Grady Hospital is a testament to resilience and dedication.
Ever wondered what it takes to pivot from a PhD program to finding your true calling? Dr. Bell's journey provides a fascinating look at how personal orthodontic experiences and the mentorship of an African American orthodontist reshaped her career. Through shadowing opportunities and the realization of the transformative power of dental care, Dr. Bell discovered her passion for dentistry. She candidly discusses the emotional and professional hurdles within the field, including burnout, and emphasizes the importance of maintaining passion and balance in your career.
Navigating career transitions, prioritizing self-care, and embracing new opportunities are keys to sustaining professional joy. Dr. Bell, known on social media as "saved by Dr. Bell," shares her wisdom on these topics, offering practical advice for pre-dental students and professionals alike. Learn how to manage dental school applications, create effective study schedules, and avoid burnout, all while staying true to your aspirations. Dr. Bell’s down-to-earth approach serves as a motivational guide to achieving personal happiness and success in the dynamic world of dentistry.
Ever wondered what it takes to pivot from a PhD program to finding your true calling? Dr. Bell's journey provides a fascinating look at how personal orthodontic experiences and the mentorship of an African American orthodontist reshaped her career. Through shadowing opportunities and the realization of the transformative power of dental care, Dr. Bell discovered her passion for dentistry. She candidly discusses the emotional and professional hurdles within the field, including burnout, and emphasizes the importance of maintaining passion and balance in your career.
Navigating career transitions, prioritizing self-care, and embracing new opportunities are keys to sustaining professional joy. Dr. Bell, known on social media as "saved by Dr. Bell," shares her wisdom on these topics, offering practical advice for pre-dental students and professionals alike. Learn how to manage dental school applications, create effective study schedules, and avoid burnout, all while staying true to your aspirations. Dr. Bell’s down-to-earth approach serves as a motivational guide to achieving personal happiness and success in the dynamic world of dentistry.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to Dental-ish season three.
(00:02):
I don't remember what episodewe're on, but I do have a fun,
special, funky guest.
Her name is Dr Akidra Bell andshe is here with us.
Welcome to Dental-ish, dr Bell.
I'm so glad to be here, can'twait to get started.
Woo, woo, woo.
Y'all.
I'm doing like hand raises, buty'all can't see that right now.
(00:25):
But anyways, I really wanted toconnect on this season with a
bunch of doctors, a bunch ofhygienists, and really give them
some inspiration and anybodyelse who's listening and you are
one of the accounts that I havebeen following for a long time.
You have really been aninspiration for me, wanting to
become a dentist and seeing youblossom in the four years, like
you've always shared it and nowyou're coming into from what I
can see like you're a womanhood,like all right, she's a boss
(00:46):
and she's showing up and she'sactually practicing what she
preached.
So thank you for being that andactually having that
transparency and authenticity,because you can really tell
who's authentic and who's justreally trying to help.
And one of the things I did notknow is you're from a small
town in North Carolina, rightacross the street from me,
elizabethtown, north Carolina,so can you talk about, like your
(01:08):
journey from just being alittle girl into becoming into
dentistry and to being thismentor, and now I would say
you're definitely an influencer.
What did that journey look like?
Well, first, thank you so much.
I feel like being on socialmedia and trying to help and
trying to give back some dayscan be so defeating because
social media is tough and youfeel like you're not reaching
enough people, not doing enough.
(01:29):
So just thank you for thosekind words.
I've always said that if I canhelp one person reach their goal
, then I've done my job, I'vedone my due diligence.
So that is just pushing thatforward every day.
So just so happy to be here.
I'm from Elizabeth City, northCarolina, very small town.
We have a couple of stoplights,we just got a Chick-fil-A, we
(01:50):
just got a chocolate smoothie,we got a cage journalist.
Now we're moving on up, butit's a very small town where no
one that was a dentist orphysician that I knew looked
like me.
Somewhere along the line kind ofgrowing up, I really had this
affinity for science and Ireally wanted to be in medicine
and I grew up wanting to be apediatrician.
That journey changed a littlebit as I got older and I saw my
grandparents kind of decline.
I mean, just with my attitudeand how much I care for people
(02:12):
and me wearing my heart on mysleeve I knew being a physician
might not have been the bestthing for me, because me giving
bad news even to the day abouthaving to take a tooth out just
really kind of defeats mesometimes and I want to save
everybody, which is where savedby Dr Bell came from.
But I had a real affinity formedicine.
I thought about doingpediatrics and then switched
(02:32):
over to dentistry because of myown smile transformation and
then going into the dental field.
I didn't really have a mentor.
I didn't really know where toget resources from.
In dental school I met so manypeople that wanted to get in or
had trouble getting in.
I had classmates that appliedthree or four times and it's
just because us as minoritiesdon't have enough resources.
So I just wanted to stand inthat gap as much as possible and
(02:54):
so now I really focus onmentoring and giving back as
much as I can.
Oh, wow.
So when did you officiallybecome licensed?
It wasn't that long ago, was itNot that long ago?
I actually was a COVID baby, soI graduated from dental school
in 2020 in the midst of COVID.
Never had a graduation, onlywore a cap and gown for pictures
.
After those long four years ofstruggling through school,
(03:17):
literally only had my momentthrough pictures and a small
little graduation party withlike my closest friends, but
never got to walk across thestage because of COVID.
And then I did a residency andgraduated from residency in 2021
in Atlanta, georgia.
Oh, where'd you do it?
At Grady Hospital in Ben MasellDental Clinic.
But most of the time was spentat Grady because it was COVID.
(03:38):
So we spent most of our time atGrady in the in the hospital.
So that was a good thing foryou to do that residency to, to
really hone in on those skills,because it was a COVID
graduation.
Oh, my goodness, absolutely.
How'd you take your boards?
We funny thing is we tookboards the week before COVID hit
.
We went to ECU, we took boardsand I mean we are.
(03:58):
We're just all excited like, ohmy gosh, y'all.
We took boards, we passed, it'sabout to be the best like eight
weeks left of school.
We go back to our clinicsbecause at ECU we rotate to
clinics around the state and Ihad just started my third
rotation.
I mean, the house that we livedin was great.
I had a room to myself, I had ajacuzzi.
It's at the beach.
So I'm just picturing my wholesemester, like or whole last
(04:20):
nine weeks, running on the beachand eating some seafood.
We took boards.
We went back and then the newshit and it was like go home for
spring break and take your stuff, and so we're thinking it's
going to be one week.
One week turns into two, twoturns into six, six turns into
seven.
Then we start getting theemails like yeah, there's no
graduation, here are your things.
(04:40):
You can rent a gown if you wantto.
It was one thing after anotherand literally our graduation was
our names rolling across ascreen.
They never even got called ourname, just literally rolled
across the tv screen for ourparents to watch after all that
time.
So that's how it happened.
We literally took boards a weekbefore and then we passed.
Most of my class passed,thankfully, I think there was
(05:01):
like two people that had to goback, kind of once things broke
and then they never went back toinpatient boards, they just
kind of kind of stayed withmannequins.
But we were the one of the lastclasses to take patient boards
and we finished the week beforeCOVID hit.
So no, even to this day, nomore patient.
It's only mannequin.
I've only seen, I've only heardof mannequin.
I haven't heard of any morepatient boards since we finished
(05:22):
.
I think the next class may havedone part mannequin, part
patient, but from pretty hereand now it's been just
mannequins from what I remember.
It just puts things intoperspective for me.
I'm just like my word, my go-to, is.
I was like does it, does thisstuff really matter?
Does the graduation matter?
The cap again.
You still achieve what you did,you did, how hard you worked,
(05:43):
and you know where you are, youknow where it's taking you.
But everything that we're doinglike is it really, does it
really matter?
So it could be a blessing indisguise to just make you
realize, like what's importantis I made it and now you're
changing lives because you'relooking back.
Did you really miss it or didyou feel robbed of it?
Did you feel like I don't know?
I definitely felt robbed.
(06:03):
And then, like the next yeareverybody went to like oh, we're
going back to graduation.
In my class we were just reallyclose-knit.
Everybody couldn't make it back.
They only gave us like a weekto prepare.
I'm in Atlanta, somebody's inChicago, somebody's over in
California, so like we allcouldn't come back.
It wasn't really organized, sowe just kind of like at first we
were just really sad becauseyou look for it at graduation
and me specifically, I rupturedmy Achilles in my third year so
(06:27):
I couldn't wear heels, Icouldn't walk, and if you see me
on Instagram I'm like a heelgirl, they like to be cute.
But I went.
I had to go eight monthswithout wearing heels.
I did hard PT every day and mygoal was to be and I told
everyone like I'm trying to pumpacross that stage in some
Christian Louboutins forgraduation and that's all I'm
trying to get into, becausethose are some high heels.
And so they were like, well, Idon't know what that little
(06:49):
Achilles you got and how thin itis, you might not make it.
So my goal was to be able towalk across the stage as red
bottoms and I didn't get nograduation, but it's OK, it's
okay, you need to go into Simsand just walk across the stage.
That's it.
You know what I'm saying andthat's why y'all see me.
If y'all see me on Instagramwalking in the video, it's
because I can walk in the heelsand even though I didn't come to
the stage, I can walk in myheels after my injury and I made
(07:11):
a comeback like Kobe.
How did you retro your Achilles?
What happened?
You know, sometimes I will dowell for a while and then fall
off, and this time I really felloff.
I went to the gym.
I was at a CrossFit class, burnboot camp.
I went every Saturday morning.
I was doing the warmup.
(07:31):
I mean, we hadn't even gotstarted yet Doing the warmup and
I'm running with my classmateand I was like girl, why you
just kick me?
When I turned around, she wasso far behind me there's no way
she could have kicked me and Ijust started falling over like
my body was collapsing.
And the leader in the classescame and kind of like scooped me
up before I hit the ground andlaid me on the side and
literally I called my bestfriend, who's a physical
(07:51):
therapist, and within 30 secondsshe was like yeah, you're up to
your achilles, you don't needsurgery and I lost it.
I'm like I should have juststayed in the bed, I should have
just not went to the gym thismorning and I would have been
okay.
Wow, life, life, be life andbut God be God in.
Okay, that's that's, that's mymotto.
That is the craziest.
So nothing.
You just went out, just wentout and I went to the doctor.
(08:15):
I actually went to the emergencyroom that day because it
swelled up so bad but I had nopain, like it was like a golf
ball and playing basketball,growing up and being active.
I mean, I'm a sprained ankle, Ibroke some wrists, I've done
everything.
So I went to the.
I went to the ER, my momassisted on it, and the doctor
was like, oh, you just sprainedyour ankle.
So we had a burnisher's ballthat night, which is like our
dental ball for the school, andI wore heels, thinking I just
(08:36):
had a sprained ankle.
Like I wore heels andeverything and surprisingly my
Achilles didn't roll up anyfurther than what it was,
because apparently, if you putit in the wrong angle it can
cause it to spring up and theywould have had to basically like
extend my scar halfway up mycalf muscle.
So just thankfully, even thoughI got the wrong diagnosis, it
didn't get any worse.
But I went to the doctor liketwo days later and they were
(08:56):
like, yeah, it's ruptured.
No heels, no, no, working out,no, any of this, none of that.
It's eight months recovery time.
You gotta have surgery if youwant to come back.
Sign this paper so we can getstarted.
Damn, one thing after anotherone, one thing.
So now I'm a true fitness girly.
I've been in the gym hard, I'velost 15 pounds, I feel good, I
look good, but, yeah, we're backand we better.
Okay, okay.
(09:17):
Okay, you need that setback forthe, for the comeback, but come
back.
You know that's the wordsetback for the comeback, for
the comeback, you know that'sthe word setback for a comeback.
My goodness.
So did you go to ECU for yourundergrad and dental school?
I went to Elizabeth City StateUniversity, hbcu, pride, okay.
So I went there for undergrad.
I actually started atWinston-Salem and transferred
and finished at Elizabeth Cityand then I did dental school at
(09:39):
East Carolina and actually inbetween undergrad and dental
school I took a two-year breakand taught high school.
Oh, okay, wow, that'sinteresting.
That's really because mostpeople like they're like high
school undergrad, go straight in.
So at that time, when I wasgraduating, kind of that last
semester, that's when I startedto get that like, oh, I don't
(10:00):
want to do, and I was pre-med, Idon't want to do medicine
anymore, so was pre-med.
I don't want to do medicineanymore, so I don't really know
what I'm going to do.
I actually went and got into aPhD program that was fully paid
for at Virginia Commonwealth andI was going to do clinical
research.
But when I got there, theclinical lab that I was working
had lost funding, and so on myfirst day of class they gave me
two options Pick another lab orstay here for five years until
(10:22):
the lab gets new funding.
You talking about staying inRichmond for five years?
No, ma'am.
So I picked another lab, hatedthe lab.
I was working with rats.
I would hear rats in my sleep.
It was too much.
I just couldn't do it.
I was like mom, I'm not doingthis.
So I literally took a leave ofabsence and never went back.
Never so teaching was my.
I can't sit at home.
Never went back, never soteaching was my.
I can't sit at home, I need togo get a job.
(10:43):
So I applied to some labs, Iapplied to some some some
teaching jobs and I got a jobteaching within a week and I
went to go teach because I can'tsit at home.
Ok, and then when, where diddental dental school come there
we go.
So growing up I was a littleugly duckling.
I had some jacked up teeth so Iactually got braces twice.
And the funny thing is is myorthodontist Lord God rest his
(11:04):
soul.
I used to go in there for hisvisit.
He was a.
He was an African Americanorthodontist.
Everybody from Elizabeth Cityended up going to him because he
did take Medicaid and he wasjust wonderful and I would go in
there.
He was like you're going to bea dentist, you're doing great
down there.
In school because a three point.
(11:24):
I had a 4.0 GPA all the wayuntil my end of my junior year.
Then I tried, then I pledgedand I was.
I had 24 credit hours at thesame time.
I felt a little bit short so Iended with a 3.89 still pretty
close, but I would take myreport card and he would give us
, you know, gift cards and hewould.
He would congratulate us.
He was like man, you're gonnabe a dentist, you're gonna be a
dentist, you're gonna be a greatdentist.
I said you're crazy, I'm notgetting anybody's mouth.
(11:46):
And then those words came backto bite me and so once my braces
came off and I actually got tofinish everything, I had to get
one implant and one crown and mydentist awesome man, he's in
Greenbrier, he works atGreenbrier Dental was like hey,
just come and I'll give you somemoney off.
If you come to shadow money,I'll be there tomorrow morning.
How early do you need me there?
Because I this bill isexpensive.
(12:06):
So I went to go shadow and,like the first patient had like
a tube that was broken, causinghim crazy pain.
He got him out of pain.
I was like, well, that was cool.
And then the next, like kind ofweek later, after I had been
shadowing for a week so manycool things I got my smile
finished.
So he submitted my crown,submitted my implant, which we
all know implants take time.
So I got my implant finished,got my crown seated, didn't have
(12:28):
to wear that retainer no more,and I was like, oh snap, this
girl is cute, look at she.
For the longest time I had onetriangle peg lateral and then I
had whoever's assistant was Ican't remember who she was and I
didn't know any better shematched the peg laterals.
So my retainer that filled inmy missing two space that I wore
for like six years was alsoanother peg lateral and they
(12:52):
both look like sharp vampires.
So I look completely differentwith just those two things and I
was like, oh my goodness, wow,I am a new human and I want to
help other people do the samething because my confidence
boosted.
Growing up I just had really lowself-esteem.
I was joked all the time.
I was heavy, like I alwaysstruggled with weight, and when
I was 15 years old I was 190pounds, five foot tall, 190
(13:13):
because I was round a brickhouse and not in the, not in the
way, in the good way, to talkabout something.
I was a house and so, like,just growing up I've always
struggled weight, struggle withmy self-esteem, like I.
And so that just going intocollege, losing weight, coming
into myself and then having thatto just seal the deal, I just
felt like a new person.
I wanted to be able to giveother people that same smile,
that same give back.
(13:34):
So we don't, we, we don't talkabout enough how much your smile
affects your mental health oroverall health.
Like if you're confident andyou have that smile, it can
transform into how do I feelabout myself?
How do I feel about otherpeople?
How do I treat other people?
How do I treat myself?
How do I treat things that Iput in my body.
You know what I mean.
(13:54):
Like how am I reacting to how Ifeel deep down?
And that's one of the thingswhere we want to make people
feel good about themselves andreally care and, on the back end
, working in dentistry becausewe care so much and because we
take a lot of other people'sissues right, because we want to
fix things, I want to make youhappy, I want to make you smile.
(14:16):
I want to make you smile.
Then we tend to get burnt out.
So you've been practicing fouryears, five years now.
Do you see yourself stillpracticing dentistry?
How do you break that up sothat you don't get burned out?
Or have you even gotten burntout yet?
Burnout is real, do I thinkI've been burnt out in some
moments?
Definitely so.
In my first job at dental school, I worked for Heartland Dental,
(14:37):
which is a corporate dentaloffice, and I was not supposed
to be running the office butended up running the office
because I didn't have an officemanager.
So not only was I doingdentistry, I was helping the
front desk and helping with thisand helping with insurance and
making sure patients were calledand handling patient complaints
and so handling drama in theoffice, like between the
hygienist and assistants, and sofor someone coming fresh out of
(15:00):
residency, when you can, youlearn.
Ecu will teach you all thedentistry that you want to know
you can.
Those clinical skills are goingto be A1 coming out.
But we did not have a classabout managing humans.
So I was the national presidentof the Student National Dental
Association during my last yearat ECU and I worked with
students all across the countryand we managed S and D for all
(15:21):
the dental schools across thecountry and I thought that my
experience leading students wasgoing to be the same no,
completely different thing.
So I was a little burnt out.
I felt like I wasn't makingexactly what I wanted to make
because it was a brand newoffice in the area, a lot of
things going on with howHartland was kind of growing in
North Carolina, and I just feltlike I wasn't kind of
accomplishing what I wanted toaccomplish.
(15:43):
So I think the biggest thing isknowing when it's time to move,
knowing when it's time totransition, understanding that
you know your goals change.
Everything pivots and givingyourself that room to grow.
Giving yourself that room tomove, because our parents, you
know, my mom has worked in thesame place for 30 years, and
then you have this mindset like,oh, I got to go here, I got to
stay.
And that's not the thing.
If it's not working for you,move.
(16:04):
If that's not working for you,move again.
Everyone's hiring, everyoneneeds it.
There's so many opportunities.
And so I left that area and Iwent into a new job and I mean,
but even then, still, you canhave some days where you feel
burnt out.
I think the biggest thing isgiving yourself grace is doing
the best you can while you're onthe clock and not taking that
stuff home.
Find a hobby, find an outlet,work out, zen outlet, workout
zen, breathe, pray, do whateveryou have to do to take care of
(16:28):
yourself, and that's the biggestthing.
But it's definitely easy to getburnt out.
You definitely that experienceI'm believer in everything that
you go through opens the doorfor the next thing.
Next thing not have reached thenext level until you went
through that.
So that experience was what itwas supposed to be.
So when, when people like yousaid, generational, like your
parents stay, you know, at a jobforever, forever, it's not the
(16:54):
same because we are constantlyevolving as people and our
mindset is changing.
There's no longer I'm unhappyand I'm staying in a
relationship I mean we call itdating and dentistry.
You better find your office.
It's not working now.
I'm sorry it's not.
It's not.
It's not you and me, it's noty'all, it's me.
I got to go, I got to do what'sbest for me and I think the
biggest thing is understandingthat these jobs these days do
not kind of appreciate you asmuch as they did back in the day
(17:16):
.
You know jobs back in the day mymom's job, they're going to
switch.
If she wants a new positionthey're going to switch around.
Make sure she's still happy.
Today.
People will replace you andthat's why I tell people about
taking vacations, taking thatday off if you need to.
You have to take care of youbecause if something happens to
you and you can't go to work,they don't replace you.
They get an attempt doc,attempt hygienist, attempt
assistant, and you will bereplaced.
(17:37):
They're going to replace youthat day or the next day and
they don't keep moving.
I asked the question and myquestion was what piece of
technology can you not livewithout?
Like you said, you're a girl'sgirl, but you also used to be a
tomboy.
So what piece of technology orwhat can you not live?
It could be food, it could bewhatever, like what is it that
you got to have for you?
Oh, so it doesn't have to bedentistry?
(17:59):
No, it doesn't have to bedentistry.
Okay, because dentistry, baby, Ican't live without a scanner.
Don Don't get me to take notraditional impressions, no more
, I cannot.
I don't want to do that.
I need a scanner.
And what can I not live withoutin life?
It's probably a basic answer,but my cell phone.
Everything is on my cell phonemy calendar, my clock, my timer,
my reminders.
(18:19):
Everything is in that cellphone.
If this thing gets lost, I'mlost.
We're both lost together.
We're lost together.
We're in shambles.
Somebody get her cell phone now.
Then somebody get my cell phone, because I can, I can't live
without it.
Like it has my flight, it haseverything in there that I need
to do.
It's just, it's my, it'sattached to me.
Yeah, yeah, we took out aniphone.
(18:40):
I got iphone 15.
Is that the one that's out now?
15, whatever, 15, 14, whateverthe newest one is, I don't know.
Okay, okay, okay, all right.
So five years years intodentistry, you're a technology.
Yes, you are a technologybecause you do a lot of content
creation.
You're a perfect day.
What does it look like?
Perfect day is working out inthe morning at 5 am, because I
am a fitness girly, but thatclock be going off actually
(19:00):
don't make it.
Getting breakfast, so gettingmy eggs and my protein in so I
can build this booty, and thengoing to work treating my
patients, of course, um,hopefully closing some
Invisalign cases, closing aveneer case, being able to treat
my patients and then taking agood lunch break, getting me a
nice healthy snack at lunch andthen coming out to close the day
, going home on time, all notesfinished and then coming home,
(19:21):
probably catching up on somethings I need to do for social
media.
So I usually use like two hoursof work time and then resting.
That's my perfect day.
So I'm in rest mode by nineo'clock so I can be in bed and
sleep by 10.
So then at five o'clock thenext morning I'm back and ready
to roll Back and ready to roll.
Okay, that's a day in the lifey'all.
If y'all didn't know Day in thelife, I might be seeing the
(19:41):
content creating coming out.
But I'm like I don't have thebrain cells to create content.
But you do it and it's engagingand people are watching it.
Even when you don't thinkthey're watching, they are
watching and that's thebeautiful thing about having
influence that you don't knowthat it's happening.
Okay, anything else you want tolet the people know when to find
(20:04):
you?
Any last words, any gems forthe audience, listeners,
absolutely.
So where to find me?
I am saved by dr bell oninstagram, as well as tiktok,
for as long as that's around,because we don't know what that
looks like right now.
I say about dr bell, instagramwith all the inspiration rich
auntie vibes, boss girl vibe howto get to where you want to be,
and definitely.
I'm honing in right now onpre-dental help and how to get
(20:28):
you guys into dental school andhow to get you guys out of
dental school as well.
So, especially if you arewanting to go dental school,
this is the place to be.
For sure, I have everything youneed.
I just released a personalstatement guide on how to write
the personal statement for you,so definitely download it.
I think it's very helpful.
I heard a lot of feedback fromstudents that it's been very
helpful, so definitely get thatfor sure.
(20:50):
And then gyms.
Gyms are to whatever you aregoing towards, whatever that
goal, that dream, is go for it.
Don't let anything stop you.
Whether that's a business,whether that is a side hustle,
whether it is going back toschool, whether it's going into
hygiene or dental assisting, orwhether it has nothing to do
with dentistry, go for it.
Whatever that is, go for it.
If you're in dentistry andyou're feeling burnt out, don't
give up.
It's okay.
Take some time to centeryourself, whether that's a
vacation or whether that's justsome time off of work.
(21:11):
Take some time off recenterreset.
Figure out what's going to makeyou happy in that career,
because you chose it for areason.
So always remember your why andunderstand that it's okay to
pivot if you need to.
Um, that job does not defineyou, that one location does not
define you and it's okay to move.
Your license will move with youand it's okay to move.
And then, for anyone that isapplying right now, stay in the
(21:33):
state, stay moving forward.
For the DAT, definitely create aschedule and go for it.
It is intimidating, I wasintimidated, but if I can do,
anyone else can do it as well.
Look out for mentors.
If you need a study schedule,need help, come to me on
Instagram.
I'm here to help you.
We can do a spark.
They are free, you don't haveto pay for them.
But I'm here to help us in thegap, to help you with resources.
(21:53):
Reach out to mentors and thebiggest thing is always believe
in yourself.
No matter how many no's you get, how many doors shut you need.
You only need one yes to startanything that you are doing, and
if the yes is not now, that yeswill come.
So always believe in yourself,keep pushing and know that at
that finish line we're going tobe cheering you on.
We're cheering you on now, andthat you have what it takes to
become whatever you want to be.
(22:14):
That's right.
Y'all just got saved by Dr Bell.
There you go.
Well, thank you, dr Bell.
It was just very nice.
It was a lot of enlightenmentand it's always like I keep
saying it's a refresher, it'sbreath, air, just to see someone
come on here that looks like us, that's a dentist, that's
humble, that's down to earth,that can really say like reach
out to me, I'm here to help ify'all need it and I'm just a
(22:35):
round the way, girl, that's all.
I'm a regular girl from East,hometown girl, small town girl,
big city dreams, and I want tomake sure that you reach all of
your dreams as well.
That's it we got to make.
Welcome back to Dental-ish season three.
(00:02):
I don't remember what episodewe're on, but I do have a fun,
special, funky guest.
Her name is Dr Akidra Bell andshe is here with us.
Welcome to Dental-ish, dr Bell.
I'm so glad to be here, can'twait to get started.
Woo, woo, woo.
Y'all.
I'm doing like hand raises, buty'all can't see that right now.
(00:25):
But anyways, I really wanted toconnect on this season with a
bunch of doctors, a bunch ofhygienists, and really give them
some inspiration and anybodyelse who's listening and you are
one of the accounts that I havebeen following for a long time.
You have really been aninspiration for me, wanting to
become a dentist and seeing youblossom in the four years, like
you've always shared it and nowyou're coming into from what I
can see like you're a womanhood,like all right, she's a boss
(00:46):
and she's showing up and she'sactually practicing what she
preached.
So thank you for being that andactually having that
transparency and authenticity,because you can really tell
who's authentic and who's justreally trying to help.
And one of the things I did notknow is you're from a small
town in North Carolina, rightacross the street from me,
elizabethtown, north Carolina,so can you talk about, like your
(01:08):
journey from just being alittle girl into becoming into
dentistry and to being thismentor, and now I would say
you're definitely an influencer.
What did that journey look like?
Well, first, thank you so much.
I feel like being on socialmedia and trying to help and
trying to give back some dayscan be so defeating because
social media is tough and youfeel like you're not reaching
enough people, not doing enough.
(01:29):
So just thank you for thosekind words.
I've always said that if I canhelp one person reach their goal
, then I've done my job, I'vedone my due diligence.
So that is just pushing thatforward every day.
So just so happy to be here.
I'm from Elizabeth City, northCarolina, very small town.
We have a couple of stoplights,we just got a Chick-fil-A, we
(01:50):
just got a chocolate smoothie,we got a cage journalist.
Now we're moving on up, butit's a very small town where no
one that was a dentist orphysician that I knew looked
like me.
Somewhere along the line kind ofgrowing up, I really had this
affinity for science and Ireally wanted to be in medicine
and I grew up wanting to be apediatrician.
That journey changed a littlebit as I got older and I saw my
grandparents kind of decline.
I mean, just with my attitudeand how much I care for people
(02:12):
and me wearing my heart on mysleeve I knew being a physician
might not have been the bestthing for me, because me giving
bad news even to the day abouthaving to take a tooth out just
really kind of defeats mesometimes and I want to save
everybody, which is where savedby Dr Bell came from.
But I had a real affinity formedicine.
I thought about doingpediatrics and then switched
(02:32):
over to dentistry because of myown smile transformation and
then going into the dental field.
I didn't really have a mentor.
I didn't really know where toget resources from.
In dental school I met so manypeople that wanted to get in or
had trouble getting in.
I had classmates that appliedthree or four times and it's
just because us as minoritiesdon't have enough resources.
So I just wanted to stand inthat gap as much as possible and
(02:54):
so now I really focus onmentoring and giving back as
much as I can.
Oh, wow.
So when did you officiallybecome licensed?
It wasn't that long ago, was itNot that long ago?
I actually was a COVID baby, soI graduated from dental school
in 2020 in the midst of COVID.
Never had a graduation, onlywore a cap and gown for pictures
.
After those long four years ofstruggling through school,
(03:17):
literally only had my momentthrough pictures and a small
little graduation party withlike my closest friends, but
never got to walk across thestage because of COVID.
And then I did a residency andgraduated from residency in 2021
in Atlanta, georgia.
Oh, where'd you do it?
At Grady Hospital in Ben MasellDental Clinic.
But most of the time was spentat Grady because it was COVID.
(03:38):
So we spent most of our time atGrady in the in the hospital.
So that was a good thing foryou to do that residency to, to
really hone in on those skills,because it was a COVID
graduation.
Oh, my goodness, absolutely.
How'd you take your boards?
We funny thing is we tookboards the week before COVID hit
.
We went to ECU, we took boardsand I mean we are.
(03:58):
We're just all excited like, ohmy gosh, y'all.
We took boards, we passed, it'sabout to be the best like eight
weeks left of school.
We go back to our clinicsbecause at ECU we rotate to
clinics around the state and Ihad just started my third
rotation.
I mean, the house that we livedin was great.
I had a room to myself, I had ajacuzzi.
It's at the beach.
So I'm just picturing my wholesemester, like or whole last
(04:20):
nine weeks, running on the beachand eating some seafood.
We took boards.
We went back and then the newshit and it was like go home for
spring break and take your stuff, and so we're thinking it's
going to be one week.
One week turns into two, twoturns into six, six turns into
seven.
Then we start getting theemails like yeah, there's no
graduation, here are your things.
(04:40):
You can rent a gown if you wantto.
It was one thing after anotherand literally our graduation was
our names rolling across ascreen.
They never even got called ourname, just literally rolled
across the tv screen for ourparents to watch after all that
time.
So that's how it happened.
We literally took boards a weekbefore and then we passed.
Most of my class passed,thankfully, I think there was
(05:01):
like two people that had to goback, kind of once things broke
and then they never went back toinpatient boards, they just
kind of kind of stayed withmannequins.
But we were the one of the lastclasses to take patient boards
and we finished the week beforeCOVID hit.
So no, even to this day, nomore patient.
It's only mannequin.
I've only seen, I've only heardof mannequin.
I haven't heard of any morepatient boards since we finished
(05:22):
.
I think the next class may havedone part mannequin, part
patient, but from pretty hereand now it's been just
mannequins from what I remember.
It just puts things intoperspective for me.
I'm just like my word, my go-to, is.
I was like does it, does thisstuff really matter?
Does the graduation matter?
The cap again.
You still achieve what you did,you did, how hard you worked,
(05:43):
and you know where you are, youknow where it's taking you.
But everything that we're doinglike is it really, does it
really matter?
So it could be a blessing indisguise to just make you
realize, like what's importantis I made it and now you're
changing lives because you'relooking back.
Did you really miss it or didyou feel robbed of it?
Did you feel like I don't know?
I definitely felt robbed.
(06:03):
And then, like the next yeareverybody went to like oh, we're
going back to graduation.
In my class we were just reallyclose-knit.
Everybody couldn't make it back.
They only gave us like a weekto prepare.
I'm in Atlanta, somebody's inChicago, somebody's over in
California, so like we allcouldn't come back.
It wasn't really organized, sowe just kind of like at first we
were just really sad becauseyou look for it at graduation
and me specifically, I rupturedmy Achilles in my third year so
(06:27):
I couldn't wear heels, Icouldn't walk, and if you see me
on Instagram I'm like a heelgirl, they like to be cute.
But I went.
I had to go eight monthswithout wearing heels.
I did hard PT every day and mygoal was to be and I told
everyone like I'm trying to pumpacross that stage in some
Christian Louboutins forgraduation and that's all I'm
trying to get into, becausethose are some high heels.
And so they were like, well, Idon't know what that little
(06:49):
Achilles you got and how thin itis, you might not make it.
So my goal was to be able towalk across the stage as red
bottoms and I didn't get nograduation, but it's OK, it's
okay, you need to go into Simsand just walk across the stage.
That's it.
You know what I'm saying andthat's why y'all see me.
If y'all see me on Instagramwalking in the video, it's
because I can walk in the heelsand even though I didn't come to
the stage, I can walk in myheels after my injury and I made
(07:11):
a comeback like Kobe.
How did you retro your Achilles?
What happened?
You know, sometimes I will dowell for a while and then fall
off, and this time I really felloff.
I went to the gym.
I was at a CrossFit class, burnboot camp.
I went every Saturday morning.
I was doing the warmup.
(07:31):
I mean, we hadn't even gotstarted yet Doing the warmup and
I'm running with my classmateand I was like girl, why you
just kick me?
When I turned around, she wasso far behind me there's no way
she could have kicked me and Ijust started falling over like
my body was collapsing.
And the leader in the classescame and kind of like scooped me
up before I hit the ground andlaid me on the side and
literally I called my bestfriend, who's a physical
(07:51):
therapist, and within 30 secondsshe was like yeah, you're up to
your achilles, you don't needsurgery and I lost it.
I'm like I should have juststayed in the bed, I should have
just not went to the gym thismorning and I would have been
okay.
Wow, life, life, be life andbut God be God in.
Okay, that's that's, that's mymotto.
That is the craziest.
So nothing.
You just went out, just wentout and I went to the doctor.
(08:15):
I actually went to the emergencyroom that day because it
swelled up so bad but I had nopain, like it was like a golf
ball and playing basketball,growing up and being active.
I mean, I'm a sprained ankle, Ibroke some wrists, I've done
everything.
So I went to the.
I went to the ER, my momassisted on it, and the doctor
was like, oh, you just sprainedyour ankle.
So we had a burnisher's ballthat night, which is like our
dental ball for the school, andI wore heels, thinking I just
(08:36):
had a sprained ankle.
Like I wore heels andeverything and surprisingly my
Achilles didn't roll up anyfurther than what it was,
because apparently, if you putit in the wrong angle it can
cause it to spring up and theywould have had to basically like
extend my scar halfway up mycalf muscle.
So just thankfully, even thoughI got the wrong diagnosis, it
didn't get any worse.
But I went to the doctor liketwo days later and they were
(08:56):
like, yeah, it's ruptured.
No heels, no, no, working out,no, any of this, none of that.
It's eight months recovery time.
You gotta have surgery if youwant to come back.
Sign this paper so we can getstarted.
Damn, one thing after anotherone, one thing.
So now I'm a true fitness girly.
I've been in the gym hard, I'velost 15 pounds, I feel good, I
look good, but, yeah, we're backand we better.
Okay, okay.
(09:17):
Okay, you need that setback forthe, for the comeback, but come
back.
You know that's the wordsetback for the comeback, for
the comeback, you know that'sthe word setback for a comeback.
My goodness.
So did you go to ECU for yourundergrad and dental school?
I went to Elizabeth City StateUniversity, hbcu, pride, okay.
So I went there for undergrad.
I actually started atWinston-Salem and transferred
and finished at Elizabeth Cityand then I did dental school at
(09:39):
East Carolina and actually inbetween undergrad and dental
school I took a two-year breakand taught high school.
Oh, okay, wow, that'sinteresting.
That's really because mostpeople like they're like high
school undergrad, go straight in.
So at that time, when I wasgraduating, kind of that last
semester, that's when I startedto get that like, oh, I don't
(10:00):
want to do, and I was pre-med, Idon't want to do medicine
anymore, so was pre-med.
I don't want to do medicineanymore, so I don't really know
what I'm going to do.
I actually went and got into aPhD program that was fully paid
for at Virginia Commonwealth andI was going to do clinical
research.
But when I got there, theclinical lab that I was working
had lost funding, and so on myfirst day of class they gave me
two options Pick another lab orstay here for five years until
(10:22):
the lab gets new funding.
You talking about staying inRichmond for five years?
No, ma'am.
So I picked another lab, hatedthe lab.
I was working with rats.
I would hear rats in my sleep.
It was too much.
I just couldn't do it.
I was like mom, I'm not doingthis.
So I literally took a leave ofabsence and never went back.
Never so teaching was my.
I can't sit at home.
Never went back, never soteaching was my.
I can't sit at home, I need togo get a job.
(10:43):
So I applied to some labs, Iapplied to some some some
teaching jobs and I got a jobteaching within a week and I
went to go teach because I can'tsit at home.
Ok, and then when, where diddental dental school come there
we go.
So growing up I was a littleugly duckling.
I had some jacked up teeth so Iactually got braces twice.
And the funny thing is is myorthodontist Lord God rest his
(11:04):
soul.
I used to go in there for hisvisit.
He was a.
He was an African Americanorthodontist.
Everybody from Elizabeth Cityended up going to him because he
did take Medicaid and he wasjust wonderful and I would go in
there.
He was like you're going to bea dentist, you're doing great
down there.
In school because a three point.
(11:24):
I had a 4.0 GPA all the wayuntil my end of my junior year.
Then I tried, then I pledgedand I was.
I had 24 credit hours at thesame time.
I felt a little bit short so Iended with a 3.89 still pretty
close, but I would take myreport card and he would give us
, you know, gift cards and hewould.
He would congratulate us.
He was like man, you're gonnabe a dentist, you're gonna be a
dentist, you're gonna be a greatdentist.
I said you're crazy, I'm notgetting anybody's mouth.
(11:46):
And then those words came backto bite me and so once my braces
came off and I actually got tofinish everything, I had to get
one implant and one crown and mydentist awesome man, he's in
Greenbrier, he works atGreenbrier Dental was like hey,
just come and I'll give you somemoney off.
If you come to shadow money,I'll be there tomorrow morning.
How early do you need me there?
Because I this bill isexpensive.
(12:06):
So I went to go shadow and,like the first patient had like
a tube that was broken, causinghim crazy pain.
He got him out of pain.
I was like, well, that was cool.
And then the next, like kind ofweek later, after I had been
shadowing for a week so manycool things I got my smile
finished.
So he submitted my crown,submitted my implant, which we
all know implants take time.
So I got my implant finished,got my crown seated, didn't have
(12:28):
to wear that retainer no more,and I was like, oh snap, this
girl is cute, look at she.
For the longest time I had onetriangle peg lateral and then I
had whoever's assistant was Ican't remember who she was and I
didn't know any better shematched the peg laterals.
So my retainer that filled inmy missing two space that I wore
for like six years was alsoanother peg lateral and they
(12:52):
both look like sharp vampires.
So I look completely differentwith just those two things and I
was like, oh my goodness, wow,I am a new human and I want to
help other people do the samething because my confidence
boosted.
Growing up I just had really lowself-esteem.
I was joked all the time.
I was heavy, like I alwaysstruggled with weight, and when
I was 15 years old I was 190pounds, five foot tall, 190
(13:13):
because I was round a brickhouse and not in the, not in the
way, in the good way, to talkabout something.
I was a house and so, like,just growing up I've always
struggled weight, struggle withmy self-esteem, like I.
And so that just going intocollege, losing weight, coming
into myself and then having thatto just seal the deal, I just
felt like a new person.
I wanted to be able to giveother people that same smile,
that same give back.
(13:34):
So we don't, we, we don't talkabout enough how much your smile
affects your mental health oroverall health.
Like if you're confident andyou have that smile, it can
transform into how do I feelabout myself?
How do I feel about otherpeople?
How do I treat other people?
How do I treat myself?
How do I treat things that Iput in my body.
You know what I mean.
(13:54):
Like how am I reacting to how Ifeel deep down?
And that's one of the thingswhere we want to make people
feel good about themselves andreally care and, on the back end
, working in dentistry becausewe care so much and because we
take a lot of other people'sissues right, because we want to
fix things, I want to make youhappy, I want to make you smile.
(14:16):
I want to make you smile.
Then we tend to get burnt out.
So you've been practicing fouryears, five years now.
Do you see yourself stillpracticing dentistry?
How do you break that up sothat you don't get burned out?
Or have you even gotten burntout yet?
Burnout is real, do I thinkI've been burnt out in some
moments?
Definitely so.
In my first job at dental school, I worked for Heartland Dental,
(14:37):
which is a corporate dentaloffice, and I was not supposed
to be running the office butended up running the office
because I didn't have an officemanager.
So not only was I doingdentistry, I was helping the
front desk and helping with thisand helping with insurance and
making sure patients were calledand handling patient complaints
and so handling drama in theoffice, like between the
hygienist and assistants, and sofor someone coming fresh out of
(15:00):
residency, when you can, youlearn.
Ecu will teach you all thedentistry that you want to know
you can.
Those clinical skills are goingto be A1 coming out.
But we did not have a classabout managing humans.
So I was the national presidentof the Student National Dental
Association during my last yearat ECU and I worked with
students all across the countryand we managed S and D for all
(15:21):
the dental schools across thecountry and I thought that my
experience leading students wasgoing to be the same no,
completely different thing.
So I was a little burnt out.
I felt like I wasn't makingexactly what I wanted to make
because it was a brand newoffice in the area, a lot of
things going on with howHartland was kind of growing in
North Carolina, and I just feltlike I wasn't kind of
accomplishing what I wanted toaccomplish.
(15:43):
So I think the biggest thing isknowing when it's time to move,
knowing when it's time totransition, understanding that
you know your goals change.
Everything pivots and givingyourself that room to grow.
Giving yourself that room tomove, because our parents, you
know, my mom has worked in thesame place for 30 years, and
then you have this mindset like,oh, I got to go here, I got to
stay.
And that's not the thing.
If it's not working for you,move.
(16:04):
If that's not working for you,move again.
Everyone's hiring, everyoneneeds it.
There's so many opportunities.
And so I left that area and Iwent into a new job and I mean,
but even then, still, you canhave some days where you feel
burnt out.
I think the biggest thing isgiving yourself grace is doing
the best you can while you're onthe clock and not taking that
stuff home.
Find a hobby, find an outlet,work out, zen outlet, workout
zen, breathe, pray, do whateveryou have to do to take care of
(16:28):
yourself, and that's the biggestthing.
But it's definitely easy to getburnt out.
You definitely that experienceI'm believer in everything that
you go through opens the doorfor the next thing.
Next thing not have reached thenext level until you went
through that.
So that experience was what itwas supposed to be.
So when, when people like yousaid, generational, like your
parents stay, you know, at a jobforever, forever, it's not the
(16:54):
same because we are constantlyevolving as people and our
mindset is changing.
There's no longer I'm unhappyand I'm staying in a
relationship I mean we call itdating and dentistry.
You better find your office.
It's not working now.
I'm sorry it's not.
It's not.
It's not you and me, it's noty'all, it's me.
I got to go, I got to do what'sbest for me and I think the
biggest thing is understandingthat these jobs these days do
not kind of appreciate you asmuch as they did back in the day
(17:16):
.
You know jobs back in the day mymom's job, they're going to
switch.
If she wants a new positionthey're going to switch around.
Make sure she's still happy.
Today.
People will replace you andthat's why I tell people about
taking vacations, taking thatday off if you need to.
You have to take care of youbecause if something happens to
you and you can't go to work,they don't replace you.
They get an attempt doc,attempt hygienist, attempt
assistant, and you will bereplaced.
(17:37):
They're going to replace youthat day or the next day and
they don't keep moving.
I asked the question and myquestion was what piece of
technology can you not livewithout?
Like you said, you're a girl'sgirl, but you also used to be a
tomboy.
So what piece of technology orwhat can you not live?
It could be food, it could bewhatever, like what is it that
you got to have for you?
Oh, so it doesn't have to bedentistry?
(17:59):
No, it doesn't have to bedentistry.
Okay, because dentistry, baby, Ican't live without a scanner.
Don Don't get me to take notraditional impressions, no more
, I cannot.
I don't want to do that.
I need a scanner.
And what can I not live withoutin life?
It's probably a basic answer,but my cell phone.
Everything is on my cell phonemy calendar, my clock, my timer,
my reminders.
(18:19):
Everything is in that cellphone.
If this thing gets lost, I'mlost.
We're both lost together.
We're lost together.
We're in shambles.
Somebody get her cell phone now.
Then somebody get my cell phone, because I can, I can't live
without it.
Like it has my flight, it haseverything in there that I need
to do.
It's just, it's my, it'sattached to me.
Yeah, yeah, we took out aniphone.
(18:40):
I got iphone 15.
Is that the one that's out now?
15, whatever, 15, 14, whateverthe newest one is, I don't know.
Okay, okay, okay, all right.
So five years years intodentistry, you're a technology.
Yes, you are a technologybecause you do a lot of content
creation.
You're a perfect day.
What does it look like?
Perfect day is working out inthe morning at 5 am, because I
am a fitness girly, but thatclock be going off actually
(19:00):
don't make it.
Getting breakfast, so gettingmy eggs and my protein in so I
can build this booty, and thengoing to work treating my
patients, of course, um,hopefully closing some
Invisalign cases, closing aveneer case, being able to treat
my patients and then taking agood lunch break, getting me a
nice healthy snack at lunch andthen coming out to close the day
, going home on time, all notesfinished and then coming home,
(19:21):
probably catching up on somethings I need to do for social
media.
So I usually use like two hoursof work time and then resting.
That's my perfect day.
So I'm in rest mode by nineo'clock so I can be in bed and
sleep by 10.
So then at five o'clock thenext morning I'm back and ready
to roll Back and ready to roll.
Okay, that's a day in the lifey'all.
If y'all didn't know Day in thelife, I might be seeing the
(19:41):
content creating coming out.
But I'm like I don't have thebrain cells to create content.
But you do it and it's engagingand people are watching it.
Even when you don't thinkthey're watching, they are
watching and that's thebeautiful thing about having
influence that you don't knowthat it's happening.
Okay, anything else you want tolet the people know when to find
(20:04):
you?
Any last words, any gems forthe audience, listeners,
absolutely.
So where to find me?
I am saved by dr bell oninstagram, as well as tiktok,
for as long as that's around,because we don't know what that
looks like right now.
I say about dr bell, instagramwith all the inspiration rich
auntie vibes, boss girl vibe howto get to where you want to be,
and definitely.
I'm honing in right now onpre-dental help and how to get
(20:28):
you guys into dental school andhow to get you guys out of
dental school as well.
So, especially if you arewanting to go dental school,
this is the place to be.
For sure, I have everything youneed.
I just released a personalstatement guide on how to write
the personal statement for you,so definitely download it.
I think it's very helpful.
I heard a lot of feedback fromstudents that it's been very
helpful, so definitely get thatfor sure.
(20:50):
And then gyms.
Gyms are to whatever you aregoing towards, whatever that
goal, that dream, is go for it.
Don't let anything stop you.
Whether that's a business,whether that is a side hustle,
whether it is going back toschool, whether it's going into
hygiene or dental assisting, orwhether it has nothing to do
with dentistry, go for it.
Whatever that is, go for it.
If you're in dentistry andyou're feeling burnt out, don't
give up.
It's okay.
Take some time to centeryourself, whether that's a
vacation or whether that's justsome time off of work.
(21:11):
Take some time off recenterreset.
Figure out what's going to makeyou happy in that career,
because you chose it for areason.
So always remember your why andunderstand that it's okay to
pivot if you need to.
Um, that job does not defineyou, that one location does not
define you and it's okay to move.
Your license will move with youand it's okay to move.
And then, for anyone that isapplying right now, stay in the
(21:33):
state, stay moving forward.
For the DAT, definitely create aschedule and go for it.
It is intimidating, I wasintimidated, but if I can do,
anyone else can do it as well.
Look out for mentors.
If you need a study schedule,need help, come to me on
Instagram.
I'm here to help you.
We can do a spark.
They are free, you don't haveto pay for them.
But I'm here to help us in thegap, to help you with resources.
(21:53):
Reach out to mentors and thebiggest thing is always believe
in yourself.
No matter how many no's you get, how many doors shut you need.
You only need one yes to startanything that you are doing, and
if the yes is not now, that yeswill come.
So always believe in yourself,keep pushing and know that at
that finish line we're going tobe cheering you on.
We're cheering you on now, andthat you have what it takes to
become whatever you want to be.
(22:14):
That's right.
Y'all just got saved by Dr Bell.
There you go.
Well, thank you, dr Bell.
It was just very nice.
It was a lot of enlightenmentand it's always like I keep
saying it's a refresher, it'sbreath, air, just to see someone
come on here that looks like us, that's a dentist, that's
humble, that's down to earth,that can really say like reach
out to me, I'm here to help ify'all need it and I'm just a
(22:35):
round the way, girl, that's all.
I'm a regular girl from East,hometown girl, small town girl,
big city dreams, and I want tomake sure that you reach all of
your dreams as well.
That's it we got to make.
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