You may only see them twice each year, but what does your dentist do when you’re not in the office? The truth is, they’re just like everyone else – they enjoy their own hobbies, they have their items that they absolutely cannot leave the house without, and they also have some advice for us patients. We sat down with the owner of Ellicott Mills Dental, Dr. Kimberly Ford, to learn more about a day in her life.
In The Morning
Dr. Ford starts her day by waking up and taking care of her cats – two of which are her own, and the rest are fosters. She fosters cats of all ages for the Maryland SPCA until they’ve found their forever homes. Currently, she’s overseeing a mother and 6 kittens in addition to her own, adding up to 9 kitties to care for each day!
Once the furballs are all taken care of, Dr. Ford ensures that she has her cell phone, face masks, and her daily iced green tea. Then she heads over to the office early where she reviews the cases for the day, leads a staff huddle, and begins seeing patients. She then admits to spending most of her lunch hour checking emails and following back up with other patients – there’s not much down time in the day of a dentist/practice owner, but it’s still rewarding in its own ways.
Favorite Thing About Dentistry
Dr. Ford says that one of her favorite parts of her job is when she meets a patient who has been putting off dental work due to nerves or anxiety, and then works with them to overcome their fears, make them comfortable, and make sure their teeth are healthy. (This happens more often than you might expect – she says Ellicott Mills Dental gets at least one new patient like this each month!)
COVID-19
Lately, Dr. Ford has been spending any time that she’s not actively treating patients or following up with them, researching best practices for Coronavirus safety procedures and where to get Personal Protective Equipment at a reasonable price.
Since she and her staff now wear so much extra gear in the office to keep their patients and each other safe, they’ve cranked up the A/C – it gets hot under all those layers! But as a result, it leaves patients chilly in their chairs. The solution? Blankets. Lots of them. Dr. Ford explained that pre-pandemic, Ellicott Mills had blankets on hand to keep patients comfortable. Now they have more for that same reason – that they’re sanitizing, of course!
In the Evening & Outside of Work
Once she’s finished for the day, she heads home, immediately takes a shower, tends to the cats before bed, and hits the hay. When Dr. Ford isn’t at the office, she can be found playing tennis. Before COVID-19, she captained tennis teams several times per week to blow off steam after a long day or week at work.
Advice for Us Patients
Dr. Ford’s List of Things She Wish We Knew:
- Just because your insurance doesn’t cover it, that doesn’t mean you don’t need it! Insurance companies, unfortunately, don’t pay for every treatment you need.
- We can tell when you’re lying about flossing.
- We do as much as we can in-house because we know patients don’t like being referred out to other practices.
- There are a lot more options available than you might think in terms of treatment and procedures – whether its whitening, bonding, veneers, invisalign, or something else, we have a lot of tech available that people don’t usually know about.
- Always feel free to ask as many questions as you want – people tend to apologize for asking too many questions, but it’s our job to educate you and ensure that you’re well-informed about any treatments or procedures.
- We genuinely care about you as people! Most of our patients have been coming to us for a long time, and we enjoy building personal relationships with you and your family.
Our dentists are just like us – they have their beloved pets, activities to help them unwind from a long day at the office, and even their nighttime routines. But most of all, they genuinely care about us as patients and people and enjoy making those connections. They’re happy to help, and always looking forward to seeing us again soon!
