A little boy with severe tooth decay made it clear to Edilia Glenski that she had chosen the right profession. She had always known she wanted to do something medical-related and had several relatives who were doctors who suggested the field of doctoring. But she wasn’t quite sure it was for her. Then college friends who were pursuing dentistry at the University of Florida convinced her to go to dental school and soon after, a 12-year-old boy ignited her passion for dentistry.

As part of her training in dental school, Edilia was practicing in an impoverished area of Florida, caring for people who had never seen a dentist. She saw over and over how poor oral health can affect a person’s overall health and the quality of their life. The boy especially tugged at her heartstrings and became “my project. Every single tooth in his mouth was decayed down to the gum line. He basically had no teeth.”

Edilia worked on his back teeth first – so he could chew food. While he was enormously grateful to have back teeth, she noticed that he never smiled. Then she fixed his front teeth, using the same method as she had for his other teeth – rebuilding them with filling material, basically hand sculpting his entire mouth. “He started to smile and in a short time his whole personality changed. He was so grateful, he cried and cried.”

She was hooked. She had never imagined how much difference she could make in people’s lives. “They didn’t talk about that in dental school; it was all technical.”

That was also when she decided to focus on cosmetic dentistry, even though at the time nobody called it “cosmetic dentistry.” A fortunate time in the Navy after college allowed her to get an unusually wide range of experience with all kinds of dental conditions, including injuries – “much more experience than if I had gone into private practice right after school.” After serving in Asia and San Diego, she stayed in Calif. and practiced cosmetic dentistry for 17 years.

In 2002, Edilia and her family returned to her home state so they could be nearer her parents and because “I missed Florida.” A rather energetic person, Edilia recently completed 600 hours of advanced training at UF. “The profession is moving so rapidly and there is so much new technology, if you just get your CEUs each year, you fall behind. I don’t want to be left behind.”

What with visiting her parents in Lakeland, fixing up the house they bought after they moved here, and continuing to build her Florida practice, Edilia really doesn’t have much time off these days. But if she did, she would most like to go boating, look at marine life and watch Florida’s wildlife, which she loves.