Matthew Patterson, D.M.D. Lancaster, PA ADA member for 20 years How many years have you been an ADA member? 20 Briefly describe your practice. Comprehensive practice, emphasizing individualized care. One full-time doctor, one part-time doctor, two hygienists. Areas of special interest to us are preventive, aesthetic and implant dentistry. What generation dentist are you? First What's the most-often asked question from your patients? 1) Did you do this? (When they see the photos of the aesthetic cases we've done for people. By the way, the answer is yes!) 2) How much will my insurance pay?		Matthew Patterson, DMD Twenty year member

What is the most interesting thing that has happened or you’ve done as a dental professional?
Practicing in the Navy right after school was wonderful. My wife and I lived in Pensacola, FL, for three incredible years. In Pensacola at that time, even with tons of school debt, even on military pay, we could afford to live on the beach. Walk down our front steps and you're in sugar white sand. I was fortunate enough to call the Blue Angels my patients. I served for a short time on an historic ship (USS Lexington, the last WWII carrier in the fleet), and I got outstanding advanced training in several of the specialties. (Thanks, Captain Gomer!) Not a bad life...

Why did you choose dentistry as a profession?
Actually, I backed into dentistry. I wanted to write "the great American novel" and I majored in English Literature at the U. of Pittsburgh. Since it's quite a feat to get published by a reputable house, I thought I better have a real job, too. "What would I like to do?," I wondered, and the health professions came to mind. From my experiences caddying as a teen, I concluded that dentists had more free time—i.e. time to write, in my case—than physicians. How little I knew back then!

What's the most difficult challenge you've faced in your practice?
Communicating the value of what we do in an insurance driven environment. People have been brainwashed to believe that their dental benefits, if they have them, are similar to medical insurance; that most services should be covered, covered virtually in full, and that their yearly maximums should pay for most—if not all—of their care. In fact, if someone needs or wants dentistry beyond the most rudimentary services, dental benefits are so miniscule that they are irrelevant. Yet many people remain convinced otherwise.

Name one unique thing on a wall in your clinic or displayed in your waiting room.
Our office has a Caribbean theme and decor. Patients find it quite relaxing, and I really do, too. In the reception room is the poem, Mystery South of Us by Don Blanding. Jimmy Buffet has that poem inside the jacket of his Volcano disc. It's a terrific description of the "old" Caribbean. Each treatment room has a large framed island photo. But in my favorite room there's also a brightly colored ad for the Vieques Condiment Company. "A little spice from Paradise," it reads.

What is/was the most challenging aspect of dental school?
1) Maintaining my dignity in the face of so many indignities.
2) Paying for it!

What would you be doing if you weren’t a dentist?
1) Writing the "great American novel" while sailing in the tropics.
2) Actually, my buddies and I have discussed what we'd do if we didn't have to practice dentistry, if we would win the lottery or have a long lost, wealthy relative leave us a fortune. They think I'm nuts, but I'd still be a dentist. Not in private practice, in a public health clinic, perhaps, say in Vieques.

Name/describe your favorite CE course taken in the past two years.
The Pankey Institutes Level IIIE of the Continuum: "Obtaining Natural Beauty and Health." (Aesthetic Dentistry.) The dentists who instructed were terrific, and the amount of useful, practical information was mind boggling—I'm still picking up more from it every time I review the manual.

What do you do to relax?
Spend time with my awesome wife, Sarah, and my three terrific children: Matt, Jr., 20, Alex, 17, and Abbey, 12. Listen to music, read, head for the beach. Any beach will do, but the ones between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are my hands-down favorites. Fantasize about the sailboat I'm planning to buy—as soon as three kids are educated and an office mortgage is paid!

What is the most daring thing you’ve done in your lifetime?
I can't say because it's illegal, and I don't want my children to learn anything about their father's misspent youth.

What are you most proud of?
Working through serious marital problems. In our enlightened society, when couples encounter marital discord, divorce is almost encouraged. We were fortunate enough, blessed enough and determined enough to work through it. I'm neither naive enough nor self-righteous enough to assert that all marriages are fixable, or that good people don't get divorced, yet I'm very proud of what we did. (You're awesome, Sarah.)

What is the last book you've read or are currently reading?
1) "It's Hard to Make a Difference When You Can't Find Your Keys" by Marilyn Paul. In the treatment room, I have laser-like focus. Outside the treatment room, well, I guess it's fair to say I'm less than well organized.
2) Do poems count? I read, "Ulysses" and "Idylls of the King: the Passing of Arthur"—both by Tennyson almost daily. (My two favorite poems—my staff framed them both as gifts and they hang in my private office.)

How do you deal with stress?
I pray a lot! I need to work on that stress reduction thing... Talk with Sarah and the kids, watch "Jeopardy", do crosswords and cryptoquips in the evening. Haven't tackled Sudoku yet—looks too dangerous.

Where is your favorite vacation spot or activity?
Vieques, PR, followed closely by St. Barth's, FWI (there's a great meeting there every January—shhh!), but I haven't seen Bora Bora yet. The Jersey shore will do in a pinch.

What are your hobbies?
Right now, I don't get to write much, but I'm trying to learn more about photography. I started doing photos to document our patients' aesthetic treatments, and I kind of got the bug. (Man, is there a lot to learn.)

Who is your favorite singer or musical group?
Singer: Aretha Franklin, no contest. Best range in the game, maybe of all time. She can blast those notes, and does she ever have style. Diane Schuur is a respectable second. Another lady with a great set of pipes. But there are so many good ones out there. Band: Dire Straights..."Skateaway," "Portobello Belle'" (live), "Romeo and Juliette," and you gotta feel great when Knopfler plays,"Twistin' By the Pool." Great Big Sea is awfully good, too, and of course, the Police, before Sting became so sanctimonious. The Wailers, Gin Blossoms, Wallflowers, B52's, and on and on...

What do you do for exercise?
Ride my bicycle. But man, I need to get back to it...this dentistry stuff wears a guy out.

Name one thing you have in your home from your childhood.
A tie rack I made for my Dad in second grade, but didn't finish it. He hung on to it anyway, and gave it back to me last year.

Name the last movie you saw.
"Crash." Chilling because it lays waste to all of our facades.

Name your favorite movie.
Just one? You know I've got a million answers for all of these!
1) "The Princess Bride." Best wit ever in a movie.
2) "The Mission." As a lifelong Catholic, this one scares me to death. Has anything changed?
3) "Memphis Belle." My dad was with the Eighth Air Force in England in WWII. Those flyers were some of the bravest yet most humble men of all time, and "Memphis Belle" lets you get to know them a bit.

Whom do you admire?
Honest statesmen, as opposed to politicians. My Mom and Dad. Sarah, Matt, Alex and Abbey. My brother in law, Tom Byrnes, who was married to my sister. Captain Ron—not the guy in the movie—Captain Ron Gomer, the periodontist with whom I worked in the Navy.

Who has most influenced your life?
My late sister, Marian. My Mom and Dad. The Jesuit priests at my high school, Scranton Prep.

What musical instrument do you play?
None, in reality. Steel pans and jazz sax in my fantasies.

What's your favorite Web search engine?
Who cares? As long as I can get ADA.org, I don't need any!

What concerns you about the future?
Lack of common courtesy and civility. The arrogance of wealthy nations and people. The government as a provider of societal needs, as opposed to us as private citizens. Gasoline dependence. Global warming.

Any words of advice?
Keep the faith. Stay optimistic. Life is short. Love hard.

Anything else you’d like to mention?
You mean I am allowed to say more? Well here goes...

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