LOCAL ORTHODONTICS

She’s simply a closet organizer – of the mouth. Dr. Patricia Simon of Lakewood Orthodontics uses that description lightheartedly with her patients, but it has a kernel of truth.

“Our goal is to create a stable skeletal foundation,” she says. “I put things where they are supposed to go.” Educating patients about what can be done to correct an issue, rather than only camouflage, is key when discussing treatment options.

Dr. Simon spent the first five years of her career as a faculty member at UT Southwestern Medical Center in the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Oral and maxillofacial surgery focuses on treating complex craniofacial cases that involve the mouth, jaw, face and skull. With extensive training in this aspect of orthodontics, Dr. Simon teams with oral and maxillofacial surgeons to ensure that patients receive the best care possible.

“I was the weirdest kid in the world because I knew what I wanted to do at age 14,” she says, describing a class assignment on careers. Occupations for women were seen along the lines of teacher, secretary, bank teller or retail clerk. Finding herself one of a classroom full of would-be teachers, she instead researched orthodontics after an appointment with the orthodontist who would become her mentor. Plenty of patients had told him they would become orthodontists someday, she recalls. Dr. Simon is the one who actually did so. HCA