Assess, Diagnose, Treat, and Maintain: A Process for Life?

I have Elizabeth graduated been Dental at a 21, dentist and school started for 31 years. I attended the in Birmingham, England, to treat patients.

Queen at 17,

By the age of 23, I moved to the States when I married my husband. I continued on my dental path studying at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1995 with a DMD and moving into private practice.

I practiced in the same location for 26 years, where I started as an associate, then bought the practice shortly after. I was 30 years old, pregnant with my second child, my husband constantly traveled for work, and I had inherited a team that did not see me as the new owner. How could they when everything I said and did showed how unsure I was?

You might ask, “why did you buy the practice in the first place?”

My answer: I wanted to have the ability to work the hours I wanted since I was scarred from having to go back to work a mere two weeks after having my first child. I was not given an option;

at that time, I did not realize I had a choice.

Looking back, I can tell you that I made every misstep in the book. Although not when it came to dentistry. I was proficient in doing a filling, a crown, and diagnosing bread and butter dentistry. What I struggled with was communication and managing a team, but more importantly, I could not manage myself. I lived hiding my anxiety, fear of failure, and worry of not being enough, all while pretending I knew it all.

I spent years using the energy I had left to be perfect, hiding my feelings to fit into this profession I had chosen. I had bought a practice previously owned by two white men in their 50s and 60s. The team was dressed in J.Crew shirts and white pants. Preppy. I was young, female, and ethnic—a trifecta for sure. I had no room to fail but instead had to be better than better.

Thirty-one years later, I found myself a successful owner of two businesses, my dental practice and Dental Snoozology, even starting my third business, Healing Light Alchemy. I stepped into the role of educator, speaker, coach, and mentor. It all happened

DIAGNOSIS when I broke through my cultural, social, and ethnic barriers. I stopped labeling myself. I stepped out of the box I had put myself in. I allowed myself to be me.

In our patients, diagnose caries, periodontal disease, pathological breakdown of dentition. What are the root cause factors associI listened to my intuition.

ated with this?

I listened to my body.

• Diet
• Gerd I listened to my soul.
• Mouth breathing
• Sleep disorders But more importantly, I heard the voice in my heart that said I
• Bruxism needed to treat myself better.

If we apply the word “diagnosis” to my condition:

And that was when I knew It was time to sell my first dental

• Numbness practice. I had 26 years of running the business, serving patients,
• Imposter syndrome and looking after the team.
• Stuckness
• Conditioned behaviors And in December 2019, I sold high and negotiated a favorable
• Self-limiting beliefs contract because I knew my worth this time.
• Following the herd
• Emotional dysregulation How did I change my fear into fearlessness, anxiety to acceptance,

Is the root cause of the above fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, and reticence to resilience?

resentment?

The answers could be found in Dentistry.

No, these are just emotions that did not get processed. They remained stagnant in the body, leading to that feeling of In our practices, we assess our patients, gathering data to diagnose.

“stuckness”. We plan and apply - we treat. Then comes maintenance. This is the core of what we do.

The real diagnosis is straightforward. The root cause is a lack of self-love and self-acceptance. Did you ever think of applying it to more than dentistry?

What if challenges were approached with this process and not

TREATMENT from reaction or stress mode?

How do we rehabilitate a patient? I see my younger colleagues with beautiful intentions, the drive to serve patients better, and build a successful practice with an

We phase our treatment plans, start with building good habits, amazing team and a balanced life. Then I look at their eyes, and

and celebrate small victories for our patients to reinforce good I see the fatigue, anxiety that they may not measure up, and

habits. imposter syndrome. They want to be everything to everyone, but they forget about themselves.

How do we change ourselves? How do we shift from an old mindset to a new one and make it stick? Here’s how I applied these four words to myself.

Small changes lead to big results.

Assessment

I chose one small thing to do that disrupted my routine and shook me out of the stuckness. Forty-eight years old, numb, empty, disconnected - I looked at my perfect house, thriving business, and my beautiful family and felt

That small thing? Meditating every day for 10 minutes in the nothing. No joy, no spark, just nothing.

morning.

Everything looked great on the surface, but underneath, my dis-

I gave up scrolling on my phone first thing in the morning. connection, resentment, and anger were simmering and affecting

Instead of looking at the phone and immediately filling my head my relationship with my husband, children, and friends.

with noise, I started the day quietly.

At the practice, I controlled everything to make me feel that all

Ten minutes for two weeks turned into a meditation practice of was well, but it drove my team crazy.

20 minutes twice daily.

and I started a gratitude journal. I chose three things to be happy

let the herd go their way. about while sipping my morning cup of tea. I chose three things to be grateful for at the end of the day. This small habit became

I let my inner coach’s voice sing, quieting the inner critic. an everyday practice.

There are many tools and modalities that we can use to heal ourI celebrated the challenges in our day at the office with my team

selves and find the spark. through afternoon huddles, where we celebrated the things that threw us off as a team, what we learned, and each other.

Focus on what you want, not how you think things should be. This is a simple rule of manifestation. Slowly these small daily practices created a big change.

Imagine what life can be when you switch the letters in Reaction I started my day with intention, and I felt more centered.

to Creation - same letters, different order.

I saw that l had many people, experiences, and things in my life to

Accept that we are human, beautifully imperfect, and celebrate it. be grateful for. And that’s when I started to feel again.

Is what I am feeling true or a story I am telling myself? Instead of pushing these feelings deep down, I allowed myself to feel sad, angry, and resentful. I recognized these feelings were

Lastly, I leave you with parting words of wisdom: my friends who were trying to tell me something. I started to sit with them, and they showed me that I had given so much of my

Life is an unpredictable adventure; when you stumble or fall, you power away by ignoring them. I now understand they were trying

learn and grow. Growth is change. It allows newness and freshness to warn me when I allowed others to cross my boundaries, when

into our energies. Do not fear it; let it in, and the discomfort will I was people-pleasing, and when I reacted in dissonance with my

pass. I promise you. true self.

Treat yourself as if you are your own best friend. Embody the Anger and love are so closely linked. They aren’t the same but

kindness, compassion, and support you offer your loved ones, and possess the same strength and fire.

give it to yourself first.

Where anger is held or not released, the growth of love is encum-

Love every part of yourself, the good, the not-so-good, and espebered. In accepting my anger, the door to loving all of me opened.

cially the parts you fear to face. I finally accepted myself. When I allowed myself to acknowledge this, I started to feel other emotions, such as joy, happiness, and connection.

empath, shaman, change agent, and she’s beaubegan when I started listening to my heart, allowing it to guide

tifully imperfect. Mona created a practice dedime to what truly gives me joy.

cated to comprehensive and complex dentistry presented in a way that combines technology and technique to support overall health and MAINTAIN

wellness, including sleep. She is on faculty for two curriculums: Clinical Mastery Series and We have our patients come in for regular checkups as recom-

Awaken2Sleep, where she is the head clinical chair. She is a Dental mended maintenance. Similarly, I check in with myself daily and

Snoozology coach, implementing a coaching system to help dentists ask how I am. I ask myself why I may be feeling a certain way

with dental sleep medicine in their practices. She is also training as a and if that feeling actually belongs to someone else and I’m just

Shamanic Practioner to integrate ancient healing modalities into sleep carrying around?

and everyday life.

Self-awareness is key. I ask myself if my thoughts reflect facts or

She can be reached at Hello@dentalsnoozology.com or Healinglighta story I am looping in. I ask myself, what role have I put myself

alchemy@gmail.com in? Victim, rescuer, or persecutor?

So how do I re-center and ground myself?

I prescribe myself unscheduled time without guilt. Time in nature and time to play and have fun is another way to reconnect. I don’t go on social media as much; I redefine the parameters of success