Elizabeth, our lead hygienist at our Northeast Roanoke Dentistry location, has recently celebrated her forty-year anniversary of working at the same office! We are so proud to have such a dedicated dental professional on our team, and we just had to hear her story on her journey thus far! We came to know that Elizabeth’s journey is filled with rich history and a strong commitment to providing our patients with the best in dental care!
Elizabeth’s passion for dentistry stems from her father, who was a dental technician in the army during World War II. He saw the D-Day planes go overhead the night of the invasion. After the Germans were run out of Paris, his medic unit took over a field hospital in the area. His experience in the military led him to start his career as a dentist, until he retired at age 88.
He has recently reached his 100th birthday milestone!
We sat down with Elizabeth and asked her to tell us about how she found herself at the same office for forty years, and it was a very interesting story!
Elizabeth: I never expected to work so long in this practice because I actually tried to quit the day before I started but couldn’t find a phone number! My friend was a dental assistant teacher at the college here and Dr. Joachim had met me working at the free clinic in town. I didn’t remember meeting him and had no idea how to spell his name. She told me where his office was and that he wanted to talk to me about working with him one day a week. I went for the interview and afterwards decided he would be too hard to work for. But I was trying to spell his name with a “Y” in the phone book (back in the day you looked up numbers in the yellow pages) and I decided I’d not be rude by not showing up to work, I’d just go in to work and then quit!
He’d just had a bad experience with his first hygienist who had a temper and had fired her. So he thought all of us hygienists were sort of temperamental and I just felt uneasy about the job the more I thought about it. But since I couldn’t quit, I went on to work, and it wasn’t what I’d expected. My hours extended there and we worked on Thursdays 8-8 and every other Saturday. We cut that out when we both started having kids! I eventually quit the other offices I was working in as I felt his office was my forever office.
He was such a kind and compassionate man and I was blessed to work with him for 38.5 years. I do love my patients, and the relationships I’ve had with them, some for the whole 40 years, have been so special. I’ve been to funerals and also invited to milestone birthday parties. We’ve shared recipes and stories about our kids and travels. I look forward to seeing them and how they are doing. And they come in wanting to know about my family and especially my Dad. My Dad didn’t retire from Dentistry until age 88. I’m not sure I’ll make it to that age, but it’s still my passion and I love my career.
My Dad is the reason I entered the dental world. He wanted me to check out the program at VWCC and he never had a hygienist himself. I really miss my old coworkers and boss, but I’ve enjoyed moving forward with the new technology Dr. Willis has brought into the practice. I’m also enjoying getting to know my current coworkers. They are a great team and I am so thankful to be a part of an amazing organization that is filled with such amazing people!
Book your appointment with Northeast Roanoke Dentistry now!