Spring 2007 - UNC School of Dentistry - The University of North ...

Davis’s last dollar, summer 2004.
Three years later, he has enough to
share—giving back to the School of
Dentistry to support the scholarships
that once supported him.
“Being around dentists from all
over, I know that UNC has the best
program out there.We shine.”
Alumni Profile,
continued from
page 40
he would feed his dog. Happily, a
series of serendipitous events — a
group of hitchhikers paying for a
ride to a pub; a free pool tournament
where Davis won a salmon
rod and reel he could sell; a store
charging one dollar for a week’s
worth of day-old pastries —
would keep Davis and his dog
fed and show him he was definitely
in the right place at the
right time.
“The main draw up here was
the location and adventure,” says
Davis, who first fell in love with
Alaska on a summer trip. “And
with public health dentistry I can
extract any tooth that walks in
the door. I’ve seen some crazy
pathology. We don’t have a lot of
resources so you have to be a jack
of all trades.”
Recently returned from a
week-long job in Pelican, Alaska
— which could only be reached
by floatplane — Davis says he’s
comforted by the small town
feel of this “Mayberry, Alaska,”
having come from a small town
outside of Lenior, NC himself.
“Everyone knows you’re coming
before you get here and they
always send you home with bags
of fresh meat or fish.”
Does he miss anything about
the part of the country that
raised him His friends, his
family, and the landscape of the
Blue Ridge are all on the list. To
save money for extra time with
his family on the east coast this
year, Davis will spend the summer
working in a private practice
in Juneau. After some time in
NC, he’ll head to South Vietnam
for a month of volunteer dentistry.
“I really don’t know exactly
where I’ll be in five years. The
hardest thing to see is the blatant
neglect of the dental health needs
of children in these areas. I feel
like my help is needed and I fit
this niche really well.”
Once literally down to his last
dollar, Davis’s early optimism was
well-founded: he now owns his
own home, with a view of the
Alaskan mountains he’s grown to
love. Just don’t count on him
settling down any time soon. ■
“Being around dentists from all over, I know that
UNC has the best program out there. We shine.”
42