It's important to know about your dentist.  Here's the main qualifications:

 - Doctor of Dental Surgery, Loma Linda University 2002
 - Bachelor of Sciences, Biology, UC Irvine, 1997
 - Dentist, Saddleback Local Peace, Independencia, Mexico, 2004-2008
 - Asst Adj Professor, Loma Linda University, Dental Education Services, 2003-2005

There's more to someone than just their resume.  I'd like to share with you what I've done, where I came from, and what I'm doing now in this online biography.

Credentials

• Private Practice Dentistry, 2002 - present
• Assistant Adjunct Professor, Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, 2003-2005
• Doctor of Dental Surgery, Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, 2002
• American Dental Association Member since 1998
• California Dental Association Member since 1998
• Bachelor of Sciences, Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, 1997
• Diploma, Capistrano Valley High School, Mission Viejo, 1993

How It All Started

I was born in February of 1975 in Saigon, Vietnam.  Saigon was to fall to the Communists less than three months later.  On that fateful day, my parents took a three-month old baby, a couple hundred dollars, and some baby formula onto a US Navy barge.  They left everything behind, for a foreign country on the other side of the ocean and the other side of the world.

 

A Little Bit of God, or a Whole Lot of Luck

We were Vietnam war refugees.  The army took us to Guam, then Fort Chafee.  A local church, San Juan Capistrano Presbyterian, sponsored our family and got us a small apartment in San Clemente.  My dad started out as a dishwasher.  My mom sewed clothes for years.  We had a lot of help from local church members, driving us, teaching us english, and giving us clothes.  A few years later, my parents had learned English, had good jobs, and a house.   Depending on how you see the world, either there was a little bit of God, or a whole lot of luck involved.

Learning the Language

We moved to Mission Viejo with my uncle's family sometime before I was 4.  My first language was, naturally, Vietnamese.  I entered preschool knowing only one English word: "No."  Fortunately, I learned English very quickly.  By 1st or 2nd grade, Vietnamese became my second language...now I speak English like an American, and Vietnamese like, well, an American.

 

 

Getting Schooled

I graduated with honors from Capistrano Valley High School in 1993, then UC Irvine (BS in Biology) in 1997.  I learned lots of facts, some useful, some not.  Somewhere in there I figured out that I was a nerd. 

I got involved in youth leadership when my core group leader, Bob Hull, said "You know a lot of Bible, you should be an assistant (core group leader)."  That was the beginning of over a dozen years in youth ministry.

It was also during this time period that I discovered what still are my favorite hobbies: photography, web site design, music, snowboarding, skating and cycling. 

 

Going Dental

Loma Linda University School of Dentistry was really where everything started to come together.  Lots of long hard hours with the same class of 90 people for four years, and you get very close.  After 12 years of schooling, I finally figured out how to be popular and even got elected as student council treasurer.  It was four years where I worked hard and played hard. 

As you can see, I also got the honor of my life-size picture permanently mounted to the main lecture hall...with a mask on my face :)  Four years later, I am a volunteer faculty member at LLUSD, taking dental students on trips to do their first fillings and extractions.

 

Back to Basics

I spent my journeyman years being a dentist in far off places like Valencia and Crestline.  I would always come home to visit family and friends on weekends.  After putting 50,000 miles on my car in less than three years, I decided that it was time to put down roots.  I moved back home, and started regularly attending Saddleback Church.  As I started to get more involved, (that's me on a Mexico mission trip) I knew that I had found my niche here in South Orange County.  After an exhaustive search, I ended up opening an office just a few minutes from where I grew up all these years.  Sometimes things do come around full circle.

 

What I'm Up to Now

I married my lovely wife, Catherine, in 2009.  Yes, I think she's very pretty, too.  Our honeymoon was my first two week vacation in four years.  Hopefully, it won't be our last.  After a year of house searching, we now live in nearby Trabuco Canyon.

If you attend Saddleback Church, you might have seen me playing guitar at the former Ohana venue, on a mission trip with Health Care ministry, or on assignment with PICS.  If not, I'm sure I'll see you around sooner or later. 

I'm also working on a few photography and videography projects on the weekends (but that's a whole other website)

Thanks for reading.  If I haven't met you already, I hope I get the chance to do so soon!

 

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