While young people in the UK tend to go straight into dental school at age 18, there is a different tradition it seems, in the USA.
Most students in the USA probably follow the trend of those in the UK. However, some become dentists later in life. One such individual was John Williams who recently passed away, aged 66.
Dr. Williams is an example of a dental practitioner who followed a very different career path earlier in life. In John William’s case he was a lineman in the 1970s for the Los Angeles Rams, a local American Football club.
After retiring from this job Dr. Williams decided to train as a dentist, later setting up his own practice in Minneapolis.
Football was in Dr. Williams’s blood from a very young age as he was picked by the Baltimore Colts in 1968 to play for them in the NFL.
However, he also had a passion for dentistry so decided (while still working as a football player) to study the profession part time. It took him 5 years overall. He went full time in 1979 after an injury to his calf muscle prevented him from continuing his football-playing career.
Speaking recently with reporters about his dental career, he said: “There is curiosity and some of that normal fan-athlete identification. But the main thing is rapport. Rapport is everything in dentistry. The ability to instil confidence.”
As well as being a general dental practitioner, Dr. Williams was also a trained forensic dentist and was part of the public health team when identifying victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York.
