'Being able to give back is one of my biggest reasons for coming to dentistry'

When Jesse Raybon was a child, like a lot of kids, he was afraid of the dentist. Now, he is becoming one himself as he graduates from the Medical University of South Carolina’s James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine. He credits his childhood dentist with helping him overcome his fear, an experience that he plans to draw from.

 

“One of my passions is helping people who are afraid become less so and show them that we are here to help you, and we don't want to hurt you in any way. We just want to bring a big smile to your face,” Raybon said.

Raybon brought smiles to a lot of people’s faces during his time at MUSC. His fellow dental students elected him class president every year he was there. They credit him with working with the college's administration to guide their class through understanding changes to the national licensing exam for dentists, the opening of an Innovation Lab and the college’s shift from one type of electronic health record to a new one.

Now, Raybon is poised to take those experiences, along with the knowledge gained during his four years in dental school, to a new environment: the Little River Medical Center in Horry County. It’s a federally qualified health center, which means it’s part of a program that launched in the 1960s to bring medical, dental, mental health, substance use and other services to communities that need high-quality, affordable care.

“So a lot of our patients are sliding scale and Medicaid or Medicare,” Raybon said. “Being able to give back is one of my biggest reasons for coming to dentistry. I love being able to volunteer and help as much as I can.”

 

Amy Martin, who holds a Doctor of Public Health degree and serves as a professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical and Community Health in the College of Dental Medicine, helped Raybon connect with the medical center. “It has been an honor to partner with Jesse during his dental education here at the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine. The team at Little River Medical Center are treasured partners and friends to our college,” she said.

“Knowing both Little River Medical Center and Jesse as well as I do, I knew instantly he would be a great fit for their organization. His professional purpose and strong sense of community engagement have set him up for success there, and it’s a win for Little River, too.”

Raybon will come to his new role with some dental office experience that most other recent graduates won’t have. He worked as a dental hygienist before starting dental school. “I've always thought that dentistry was interesting. My aunt was a dentist. I really loved that you could give somebody a smile and just bring them joy.”

 

Now, as a graduate of a program with more than 300 students that has a first-time pass rate of 99% for the Integrated National Board Dental Exam, the York native is looking back fondly on his four years in Charleston.

“My time at MUSC has been full of memories, full of friends that I now call family. It's also been challenging academically, but I feel like that's what makes us into the professionals that we’ve become.”