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 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
- Asst Adj Professor, Loma Linda University, Dental Education Services
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
American Dental Association Member since 1998
California Dental
Association Member since 1998
Private Practice Dentistry, 2002 - present
Assistant Adjunct Professor, Loma Linda University School of
Dentistry, 2003-present
Doctor of Dental Surgery, Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, 2002
Bachelor of Sciences, Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, 1997
Diploma,
Capistrano Valley High School, Mission Viejo, 1993
The Saigon hospital where I was born
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.
Family Christmas, 1981
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.
My dental school volleyball team, the Soup Nazis, 1998
from left: Ron, Vu (me), Liza, Dennis, Mary, Glenn
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, graphic arts, web site design, music,
snowboarding, skating and cycling.
Me, my grandparents, aunt Grace, and parents in
front of my
portrait in the main lecture hall at Loma Linda.
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.
Some of our clinic team in Independencia, Mexico.
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
If you attend Saddleback Church, you might have seen me on assignment with PICS, or on a mission trip with Health Care ministry. If not, I'm sure I'll see you around sooner or later. Thanks for reading. If I haven't met you already, I hope I get the chance to do so soon!
You may know someone that I know. You're welcome to look me up on Facebook.
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About/Contact 
(949) 600-7777
