Dr Leon Says
Many people have told me over the years that I always look happy. If they are curious and ask me why, my response is very simple. I am happy. I have a great marriage, a great family, a great orthodontic practice filled with great patients, a great business partner and a great staff. I have a lot to be thankful and happy about!
Perhaps the question that I hear most frequently, besides “when am I getting them off,” is “why did you decide to become an orthodontist?”
That is an interesting story. It was in my first year of dental school that I decided that I wanted to become an orthodontist. I loved working with children and fell in love with the profession. It had the perfect blend of science and artistry. I felt it would be well worth the extra two years of specialty training and I was right. I really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere that we have created in our office and the ability to maintain long term relationships with so many families.
If you ask me about hobbies and interests, I guess I would have to answer that I am a “geek.” Macbook Air, Iphone, AppleTV, etc. I love working on our website, Facebook, Twitter and on and on. Our practice has all the latest technology including wifi, paperless charts, imaging, and digital xrays.
When I’m not on my computer I do a lot of teaching. I am on the faculty of Stony Brook dental school, Tufts dental school and teach residents at the St. Charles Hospital cleft palate team and graduate dental residency program. In addition, I continue to lecture and teach courses about early preventive orthodontics, craniofacial deformities and Invisalign to general dentist, pediatric dentists and orthodontists both nationally and internationally.
My passion is working with children born with craniofacial deformities like cleft lip and palate. I’ve been fortunate to be affiliated with such wonderful non profit organizations as Operation Smile, Smiletrain and Health Volunteers Overseas. I’ve been on eleven volunteer missions to Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, China and Vietnam.
