Timothy O, Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry (DMD), Downeast Maine

Bringing smiles to the community, by land and by sea

 A dentist discovers fulfilling work and a beautiful place to raise a family along the way.

After practicing in urban areas, how is this different? 

You instantly become part of the community. My work feels more meaningful. I’m definitely contributing as opposed to just clocking in and out. I go to restaurants and stores where my patients work. When I lived in big cities like Phoenix and Scottsdale, you could be there 30 years and never run into someone you know.

There are opportunities to be involved with every level of your patients’ care and to build relationships with the other healthcare providers in town like the specialists, and the hospitals.

And as someone who provides healthcare, you instantly get integrated into the town and become a community leader. You feel like you are providing an essential service, and that brings a level of professional satisfaction that can be hard to find. Professionally, it’s rewarding because we realize that we’re providing essential care that might otherwise go unmet. It’s fulfilling personally to wake up every day and feel like you’ve made a difference. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I would still come back to work to do exactly what I’m doing now.

Tell me about the community health nature of your work. What’s that like?

We’re very mission-driven. We do what we can through our clinic, but we also travel to other communities that don’t have as many resources. We visit schools and work with organizations like Head Start to provide cleanings and checkups. We even take a boat out to the year-round island communities. There are many different pockets of Maine that are underserved. You have folks who would willingly get care normally, but simply don’t have access due to where they’re located. 

What brought you to rural Maine?

After living in California, New York, Hawaii, and Arizona, I wanted to find a way to get back to Maine. I came back to Maine in 2008 to work for a small nonprofit dental clinic in Hancock County. After two years, we realized there was a shortage of clinics and that patients were having trouble accessing care. We saw a very real community need in the eastern and northern part of the state. That’s when I opened my own non-profit clinic and started to partner with dental schools to support future practitioners. 

What’s it like to live in Maine?

It’s a great place to live, raise kids, work, and feel like you’re part of a real community. 

I live in this beautiful place. I have a national park literally in my backyard. 

My family and I have embraced every season in Maine. We hike, kayak, boat, ski, snowshoe, and skate on ponds in winter. There are beautiful carriage roads for biking. It’s a healthy lifestyle—you’re outdoors, getting sunlight, fresh air, and clean water. The things we often take for granted are hard to find in other parts of the country. I know folks who live in congested cities like New York City, Philadelphia, Boston. They’ll save up all year to vacation in Maine for their annual one-week getaway. We are just so fortunate that it’s in our backyard every day.

We also have these excellent public schools, and it feels like my kids are getting a private-school experience. They have a chance to be involved with sports and community activities. And it’s just so nice to live in a place without the anxiety and stress that comes with modern city life. When I lived in cities, we had bars on the windows and security systems, but this feels like a very safe place to raise them.

In this smaller community, you develop relationships with the librarians, the principals, the coaches; you can get to know the other parents and families. There is a sense of familiarity and connection that is harder to find in a larger setting. 

With so much need, are you able to have any work-life balance?

Yes. Not having to sit in an hour of freeway traffic makes a big difference. I can walk out of the office and be on a hiking trail, When I started on my professional career, I looked around the country and Maine was the place that I wanted to be. It offered the best opportunities, the most rewarding work-life balance, professional challenges, community involvement, and a great quality of life for raising a family.