Continued from p. 40 What was your biggest takeaway from the design and construction process-and, ultimately, the recognition of the award you received? I would say that it's worth the investment to try to make the office look nice. I'm not a flashy person; I drive a pickup truck and my tennis shoes are literally 15 years old, so I don't have a lot of interest in impressing people with that kind of thing. We all know that the look of your office has nothing to do with the quality of dentistry we do, but from the patient's perspective, it is a reflection of your practice. I've found that a nice office helps patients to have confidence in your success. A lot of patients also tell us that our finishes are calming and create an environment that patients are happy to be in. While we're on the subject of design, you were an internationally recognized surfboard shaper. What's the story there? Do you still get into surfing when you can? My dad is a surfboard shaper and taught me how to shape when I was 11. I still shape surfboards, but it's obviously more of a hobby at this point. I still get surfboard orders from some of the best surfers in the world. Last year Albee Layer landed the first backside 720 on a board that I made and won the Surfer Poll Awards. I still surf, but not as much as I would like to. You spend some of your time teaching and lecturing at the UCLA School of Dentistry. Do you like what you see in dental students? What's changed since you were in school? I teach the preclinical endodontic lab course with Dr. Shane White. It's almost exactly the same course that I took in 2001, with the exception of adding more rotary technique. It's a fundamentals course that Dr. White put together. We teach a relatively safe and predictable technique that doesn't require investing in a lot of equipment to do basic endo. I feel that I can relate to the students' learning curve because I was there. 42 AUGUST 2017 // dentaltown.comhttp://www.dentaltown.com