Our Lumino Miramar practice is excited to welcome Dr Charlotte Cocks to their team.
What made you decide to get into dentistry as a career?
One never knows beforehand what working at a job will really be like. Career choices can only be based on people’s best guess at what might work for them. The honest answer to this is that I was nineteen when I decided to train as a dentist. I had an uncle that I looked up to who was a dentist. I was interested in the sciences at school and the health care professions and because of my Uncle, I thought dentistry might be good. As it turned out, being a dentist was a great choice for me, I enjoy being with people, both my staff and with patients. I like thinking through treatment needs and it is very satisfying doing any treatment that’s needed as well as I can.
How long have you been practising dentistry?
I have been a dentist for forty years. A lot has changed in that time, and somethings have stayed the same. In 2016 I completed a Masters of Advanced General Dental Practice from Birmingham University in the UK- I did this to make sure I was up to date with the latest developments-and ended up enjoying it immensely. I graduated with distinction. I have been working in private practice in the UK and it has been a fascinating experience contrasting working in the two different countries.
Tell us about your career background?
My first year out of dental school, I worked as a hospital dentist at Hutt Hospital it was a good learning experience and I had a lot of mentoring from the oral surgeons learning to remove teeth (and repair broken jaws! Not much call for that in general dentistry!) I went to work in London where I worked for the NHS for several years. I came back and worked in Wellington and eventually bought into a practice and owned and ran a dental practice on The Terrace in Wellington. I completed a Masters in Advanced General Dental Practice from Birmingham UK. For the last year, I have been working in the UK.
What is your most memorable case to date?
I suppose my most memorable case was for a young person whose teeth had eroded to 1/3 their natural length after a long battle with bulimia. In careful collaboration the patient and with a dental technician I planned and then built up beautiful composite repairs to each tooth without having to drill them. Most of the teeth were involved- including the back ones. It was work that required planning and painstaking attention to detail. It was immensely satisfying to see the improvement in appearance and chewing ability.
What do you love most about your job?
I love many aspects of my job. Hard to choose, but overall, truthfully, I love best about my job is the satisfaction that can be taken from doing a complex and technically demanding job well.