Dr. Walter Lee Melvin, a Kentucky native, achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a dental hygienist, which led to an opportunity that he never anticipated.   He started his career as a dental hygienist on a Navy ship.  Being in the Navy, he was able to travel to places that shaped him as a person.   Later he would become a senior lecturer at The School of Dental Hygiene at Old Dominion University (ODU).  At ODU, he mentored numerous young students who pursued their dreams of becoming dental hygienists, just as he did when he was a young man.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Melvin.  Dr. Melvin completed high school and college before attending dental school for four years. After dental school, he did a dental program on a navy ship, where he received three additional years of training in periodontal care. Dr. Melvin was inspired to pursue a career in dentistry due to his own experiences with dental care.  As a child, he was afraid of going to the dentist, but had a fascination with the way his orthodontist shifted his teeth to straighten them.   That fascination ultimately led him to pursue a career in the dental field.  He had a desire to make others feel comfortable rather than experiencing the same fear of the dentist that he felt.

At ODU, his primary role is in academia, providing lectures for different courses to the first-year junior students of the two-year program leading to a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene.  He is also co-teaching anatomy and will be teaching oral pathology in the Spring 2024 semester. He finds working with students and seeing them develop their skills to work with patients very rewarding. By transferring his years of knowledge to the students, he believes that they can benefit the patients in the future.

One of the most rewarding aspects of working with personal patients for him is to keep them informed about their health. He believes in giving them control over the treatment process which not only reduces their anxiety but also helps them become good dental hygiene patients. His career as a dental hygienist in the Navy has been full of surprises, such as traveling to places like the Middle East and spending time out in the ocean on a ship. He has even had the opportunity to perform dentistry on some parts of the ship.  When he was younger, he thought he would live his whole life in Kentucky.   But, dentistry has taken him to California, Florida, Virginia, and even Italy.  

The most challenging aspect of his career was working with patients who are very anxious and interfere with the dentists and dental hygienists. Dealing with anxious people makes him a little bit anxious. Another challenge is getting patients to follow his instructions for their oral health. His advice to those pursuing this career is to shadow a dental hygienist and talk to them about why they chose it, what they like and dislike about it. This will give you an idea of what they find rewarding. He also advises that you must be good with hands-on activities for this field, which can be taught or come naturally. During my interview with Dr. Melvin, I learned that working hard to achieve excellent grades in science is crucial for first-year students like me. He advised me to do my best without worrying too much and to give myself grace, especially since it’s my first year in college. Dr. Melvin emphasized the importance of having a solid reason for pursuing a career in dental hygiene and not solely focusing on financial gain.