15 April 2026

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Planning for Perfection

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I love planning dinner parties.

I envision a successful dinner party to have a room filled with the aromas of a home-cooked mezze platter, falafel, kebabs and rose-olive-oil cake, and subtle lo-fi music mingled with the giggles and chitchats of my guests. My love for creating such perfection, even for a single dinner party, is the foundation of my passion for planning and organization. 

My mother was the first one to instill this desire for perfection in my life.

I witnessed her strategically plan our early life in India — from carefully deciding that my sister and I deserved a well-rounded upbringing in a joint family setting in India, to knowing exactly when it was the right time for us to move back to the U.S. so I could have the best shot at fulfilling my dream of becoming an orthodontist.

When I look back at having achieved a bachelor’s degree in nutritional sciences from UF in 2022 and a Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the College of Dentistry in May 2025, I feel reassured in thinking that a well-made plan leads to a fruitful result.

I use my organizational skills to plan every day of my life, from something as simple as planning my dinner parties to making complex treatment plans in the clinic and research protocols in the lab. When one of my patients presented with severely flared and crowded teeth, for example, I incorporated my knowledge of prosthodontics and orthodontics to provide esthetic and functional anterior rehabilitation treatment options for them. I realized that the interdisciplinary nature of orthodontic treatment planning fueled the fire of my interest in orthodontics. 

I’m currently working with Dr. Xianrui Yang on a research project, in collaboration with the UF Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, to understand forces on the temporomandibular joint in patients with skeletal discrepancy using finite element analysis (FEA). My AI research project on Cervical Vertebral Maturity staging with Dr. Divakar Karanth and the FEA project have made me realize that planning and organization not only allow me to provide well-rounded care to my patients but also allow me to research ways to simplify the process of treatment planning. I consider this one of the most valuable tools in my toolbox as a clinician and researcher.

Through my experiences in dental school, I have learned that the skill of planning beforehand is not enough for all patient interactions; sometimes, even after rigorous planning, things can go in unthinkable alternate directions. Sometimes, not having a clear cut-out plan for each patient, but having faith in skills and critical-thinking capabilities, is quintessential. Being in the orthodontics clinic and learning from Dr. Calogero Dolce helps me find balance between my planning skills and my going-with-the flow instincts.

On a daily basis, I am intrigued by the process of analyzing radiographs, photographs and models to create a mental plan of action for patients; it is very synonymous with the process of planning every minor detail for my weekly dinner parties. I have embraced my creative side, not only through the process of making desserts at dinner parties, but also by being innovative with the solutions for my patients to boost their confidence and compliance. 

I am intrigued by the impeccable capacity of an orthodontist to envision a smile and the ability to plan treatment to achieve it for their patients. I want to continue chasing the feeling of fulfillment and gratification that comes from creating the smiles that my patients envision for themselves; that feeling of satisfaction is significantly greater than when all the components of my ideal dinner party collapse into a single perfect evening.

Michelle Patel is an orthodontics resident at the UF College of Dentistry, dedicated to creating confident, healthy smiles through compassionate and precise care. She volunteers at the FreeDOM Clinic, providing free dental treatments like extractions and restorations in an emergency setting. Outside of her work, she enjoys baking, and practicing yoga and Pilates.

Author: Michelle Patel

Source: https://dental.ufl.edu/