Dr. Lissette d Ortega

 Dr. Lissette Ortega attended Texas A&M University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology in 2004. After graduation, she moved together with her husband to Chicago, IL where she worked at the research lab of a well-known cosmetic company. She moved back to Texas and received her Doctorate of Dental Surgery from Texas A&M’s Baylor College of Dentistry in 2010 and has practiced in the Dallas area ever since. She is very passionate about educating her patients and empowering every individual under her care with the knowledge they need to make their own informed decisions in regards to their dental needs. Dr. Ortega believes it is a privilege and a blessing to be in the healthcare field and holds a deep respect for her profession and her patients. Her warm and friendly personality allow many patients to feel embraced and comfortable in her office. Dr. Lissette Ortega has been married 23 years to her high school sweetheart. They have 4 rescue dogs. She is a Christian, an avid learner and a nature-loving person.WebMD SpotlightWith Dr. OrtegaWebMD spoke with Dr. Ortega about a few relevant health topics.What is the experience like for patients that visit your office?Our patients describe our office more like a cozy place where they feel at home. Our approach is simple: Treat people they way we want to be treated ourselves. For many people, going to the dentist can be intimidating, scary and quiet overwhelming. We try to simplify things as much as possible based on individual needs, goals and desires. Our mission is to empower each person who walks through our doors with the knowledge and information regarding their specific dental needs so they can make the decisions that work best for them.Can you describe how your team interacts with patients?Our team lives out our vision which is to embrace every individual in our office as they would like a family member to be cared for. We love what we do and we have been told by many patients we have transmitted that feeling to them. We love to learn about our patients' important life events, their hobbies, their families and create long-lasting relationships with them.Do you have any stories where a patient had an exceptional experience with you or your team?love this question!!we actually have several stories but there is one in particular that stands out.. We have a patient who moved to the US from Venezuela about one year ago. She came to our office for her first consultation as a referral from a friend of a friend. She was initially very reserved and guarded with the team. However, after getting her x-rays and intraoral photos she began talking and we got to know the person behind this guarded personality which was nothing more like a self-protective mechanism. She had seen approximately a total of 4-5 dental providers in Venezuela, Panama and one in the US for work in her upper front teeth. The end result to use her words had been "years of suffering and shame". The next two hours consisted mostly of us listening to the details of this journey which she paused describing when tears overwhelmed her. We tried to be strong as we sat there listening to this account but when you put yourself in someone else's shoes, your perspective changes. At the end of her visit we had drawn out a plan of action which would take several visits and steps along the way.It took a total of 2 months to get to there but we did! I think it has been one of the more ecstatic and emotional days in our office. I remember the moment we finished cementing and cleaning the last crown, we reclined her up handed her a mirror. She put her hand over her mouth, gasped, closed her eyes with mirror tight on her hand and began crying tears of happiness. She turned to me in an exclamatory voice: "my teeth, my teeth, they are beautiful, they are white, I can smile again". Non-stop tears. All of the team gathered around by now.. Everyone was aware of this patient's past ordeal and there was so much expectation on this day. We hugged it out, we all cried, she took so many selfies with the staff... I mean I have no words to describe the feeling. The fact we were able to change someone's life this way is just more than a blessing and humbling. I'm so beyond grateful to God and to life we can do this.She came back for her follow up visit some weeks later and this woman was a different person. When we first met her she had long black hair, no makeup, very reserved, no smile. However, on this visit we noticed she had gotten a very fancy hair cut, highlights, beautiful makeup, non-stop smiles. Another human being. I believe the new smile brought back to life the beautiful woman she had always been but whom had sadly hidden behind a curtain of gloominess. We have developed a great relationship with her and her family and have met a lot of great people she has referred to our office.I believe it's important to highlight that a makeover smile is not the life-changing breakthrough event everyone needs or desires. For some people it may be just getting a toothache under control, or changing that broken filling that has been rubbing your tongue for so long, getting a new denture because the old one does not stay in place or preventing active gum disease from affecting more teeth. Everyone is different. Our job is to get to know the person, their desires and how we can serve them get to their goal.What drew you to your current specialty?When I was 15 yrs old I had to get an my wisdom teeth removed through what our dentist described to be a complex oral surgery procedure. It was done in a hospital under general anesthesia. My parents used up most of their savings to pay for it out-of-pocket. We did not have dental insurance and even if we had, it would made much of a difference. That experience put a clear light on my future profession. I decided to pursue dental school to help people and if have the opportunity to help other people not go through what my parents had to go through.Anything interesting about yourself that you’d like to share with your prospective patients?The word that comes to my mind is genuine. I do not claim to be the best dentist but I am a dentist who works with my heart. I am so grateful to do what I do and I my treatment plans, my work is done exactly how I would work in my own mouth or my family members.If you had to select a quote to represent yourself as a physician / provider to your patients, what would it be?  It can be your own personal quote or a quote that you resonate with."while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" 2 Corinthians 4:18