SINK your teeth into dental medicine and the future will smile brightly. Such is the belief of dentist and orthodontist Jaybee Cabalonga.
Two years of painstaking practice at different clinics as employed dentist, Cabalonga considers herself blessed to have set up her own clinic in Quezon City.
“I’m just lucky to have a cousin and fellow dentist who invested for me,” she told the BusinessMirror.
While working part time at her progressive clinic in Cainta, Rizal, Cabalonga decided to invest in her own clinic, allowing her to have the business name for herself.
A year after securing a degree in Doctor of Dental Medicine (DDM) at the National University (NU), Kasbee Dental Clinic opened in June 2015.
I can’t even believe I’ve been here for over a year now, Cabalonga said.
Difficult course
CABALONGA’S disbelief comes from the fact that the DDM degree is a difficult course.
Internet sources have bared the dentistry program is filled with science subjects, which means the course is both theoretical and practical by nature.
There is a huge volume of information to be memorized and understood, professionals believe. To make it through, one needs excellent memory and concentration, according to Cabalonga.
While listening to long hours of lectures, you also need to do a lot of practice-based procedures performed in dentistry, she explained. After all, the human oral cavity is an intricate area of the body and some procedures may be difficult to understand and learn, Cabalong added.
“Everything is expensive in dentistry, starting with the tuition.”
She previously studied at the University of the East, but had to transfer to NU in her final year because, she said, her family can no longer afford her tuition.
She stayed at NU for less than two years to finish her course.
Skills development
THE six-year course requires a great deal of technical and motor skills, she said.
“There are many instruments and equipment used and complex oral surgical procedures you have to learn,” Cabalonga said. “During your internship, you will be meeting clients who have a variety of oral health issues. You have to be tolerant and confident enough to be able to perform specific oral procedures, even in the most unpleasant situations.”
Then, as a clinical student during the dentistry proper program starting at you junior year, your timetable dramatically changes, most especially when you’re doing your internship, Cabalonga explained.
“You will now be simultaneously attending your clinical duty and classroom lectures,” she added. “Schedules are stressful, because you have plenty of clinical requirements to do and exams to study for.”
In addition, Cabalonga said a student needs to finish the number of cases for specific procedures.
Profitable business
CABALONGA said the aches are worth it.
“I believe I have recouped my cousin’s investment so far,” she said. “What makes the investment really expensive are the supplies, laboratory instruments and equipment I need in line with my job.”
Cabalonga pointed to her tools that she said are expensive.
“Even my dental chair is expensive—but really sturdy!” she said adding that rental fee and utilities also add up to her overhead.
“But overall I’m satisfied with my earnings, though I miss having holidays, vacation leaves, sick leaves and the 13th month pay.”
License at stake
SO far, as someone who has a business of her own—paying her cousin’s investment in installment basis—Cabalonga said she has been learning a lot. “First, I should be very careful now because my license is at stake.”
She explained that when she was still studying or working for other clinics, she has “the license of my professor or my employer to save me.”
“Meaning, I can rely on them for help with the patients,” Cabalonga said. “Now I only have myself to help me so I don’t do patients with health issues unless they are cleared by their medical doctors.”
Unlike most board examinations, the licensure examination for the practice of dentistry in the Philippines consists of both a written exam and a performance or practical test. The practical exam is set one month after the written exam.
Once a student passes the Dental Board Examination, that’s the only time he or she can choose a field of specialization, which usually takes two years to complete, Cabalonga explained. She said she tried to accomplish a specialization in orthodontics while doing part-time jobs. Hence, she was already earning while mastering orthodontics.
She said patients with diabetes and those with heart problems are among those she needed medical clearance from their physicians prior to any dental procedure.
If there are cases she cannot do, she said, she refers them to other dental experts.
Frugal means
CABALONGA said she also learned to be frugal in everything—from personal expenses to using dental supplies. “Lahat kailangan sakto lang ang paggamit ko kasi mahal talaga ang supply,” she said. [I need to be exact in the use of supplies because these are expensive.]
The pressure, however, also comes from the need for her to be very good in her profession. At the same time, she also needs to be friendly with clients as she is just building a name for herself as a dentist and orthodontist.
So far, she said, she has over 200 patients in her 1-year old clinic. Forty of them come back monthly for checkup of their braces.
She also has patients coming from as far as Cainta and Bulacan from all walks of life.
Learning, loving
DOES she really like tinkering with others’ mouth in the first place?
“No,” Cabalonga said. “But I have learned to love it.”
She explained that working on dental cases has become a challenge.
“But now I find fulfillment in having able to help patients save or restore their best smiles through a good set of teeth, couple with good oral hygiene impacting the overall health of the patients.”
The real challenge of the dentistry course for a millennial like Cabalonga is having confidence. “Kailangan talaga makapal ang mukha mo [One needs to have temerity].”
Given the intelligence and the skills required by the profession, one really needs to be resourceful and determined, Cabalonga added.
Social media
CABALONGA considers the “craziest” and wisest thing she did is looking up for patients herself through the help of social media sites. She somehow earned from this strategy as well. As dentistry required many patients for several cases for specific procedures, students like her normally pay agents to look for patients for them to comply with the course requirement.
“Makapal ang mukha ko [I’m not shy] so I looked for patients myself,” she said. “And while I have to pay the patients for the procedure I also get paid by my fellow dentists for providing them with patients at more affordable or negotiable price.”
“Ganun talaga; dapat may diskarte sa buhay.” [That’s the way it is; one needs to have a method in earning for a living], she added.