Dr. Alexa Martin, DMD

I grew up in Manhattan Beach, a little beach town in Los Angeles, and then went to UCLA for my undergrad and Tufts in Boston for my graduate training. I took over the family practice in Beverly Hills after growing up watching my father shine as everyone’s favorite dentist in town. His specialty was root canals (cringe, I know), but for some reason, all I heard were stories of relief, of how his patients adored him, how they sent him thank you cards for getting them out of pain, brought their own mothers and scaredy-cat husbands to him because he was THE endodontist to go to. As I progressed through dental school, I knew I too wanted to one day be the “go-to” for dental health, for patients who are scared and in pain. I wanted to change the awful stereotype about dentists, and become everybody’s favorite get-you-

OUT-of-pain dentist.

A patient called me at 10 pm on a Thursday because her son’s mouth wouldn’t stop bleeding after a freak surfing accident earlier that day during Surf P.E. They happened to live up the street so they walked over so I could take a look. The nose of the board had somehow found its way to the back of his mouth and poked him, right behind his teeth. We did a dental exam in my kitchen using a light from my phone. He must have literally been screaming down the face of a wave for the board to go back that far in his mouth, and it was pretty incredible he didn’t mess up his teeth. We bonded over surfing (I went to the same high school and was on the surf team, too), and he snapchatted his friends the entire time.

My dad - He has been the role model of a good dentist and good human anyone could only hope to aspire to. He introduced me to a network of hard-working dentists pushing the envelope for the highest level of patient care and technology.

Atomic Habits - I used to try to adopt new habits and embrace them fully, and I’d always give up after a few weeks. You don’t have to make 100% of a change overnight - change 1% every day, or 1% every few days. It adds up. Every time you make that itty bitty small decision to do something slightly differently, you’re heading in the right direction. All of a sudden you’ll look back and see how far you have come.

The Positive Dog - Everyone has two dogs inside them - one is bouncing up and down cheerleading for you and happy, the other one is negative, worried, and sad. Feed the positive dog - in yourself, and everyone you meet. It doesn’t help anyone to be negative, and everyone has that positive dog inside them that you can bring out.

Right before COVID hit, I traveled to Botswana with two other endodontists and we spent a month traveling to health clinics to meet dentists there. The only supplies they were stocked with were tools to take teeth out when they had a problem. We trained them in the latest endo techniques and left plenty of supplies so they could maintain their own practice of root canals for at least the next year. Saving someone’s front tooth can be life-changing - in Botswana, it’s the difference between being able to get a job in hospitality (the most desirable job, but you have to have a good smile!) or living toothless for the rest of your life.

“You can teach a monkey to do a root canal.” What’s important is everything else: patient comfort, detailed reporting to and communication with referring doctors, doing the procedure the right way for highest chance of success and not just rushing to do procedures. Sometimes a patient is sent to me and I can’t even help them - their tooth is cracked and needs to come out, or something else. I don’t just brainlessly do root canals all day, I make informed evaluation and diagnosis, and have to have a very high awareness of patient comfort the entire time.

Make time for yourself. I grew up surfing every day before school, and I continue to surf as much as I can. It clears my head, grounds me, and gives me energy for the rest of the day. Get 8 hours of sleep. Once your sleep goes, everything else goes. Go to the dentist every 6 months. Yeah, it’s hard. But dealing with cavities and dental infections is harder.

1. Make a cheat sheet for EVERYTHING: How to set up for a procedure, how to restart the Wi-Fi, how to call the office building when you lock yourself out. Start a binder now.
2. You don’t have to do everything all at once: You have your whole career, pick a goal that’s appropriate to conquer for now. The harder ones you can take on a different year, or decade.
3. Don’t worry so much about others: Work on yourself and everything and everyone around you.
4. Learn how to take care of your mental health: Medical school and dental school are rigorous. For me, it was brutal. I was my own worst enemy and made everything harder for myself, until I figured out how to be my own best cheerleader. It sounds cliche, but your attitude is everything.
5. A good reputation is more valuable than money: Actually, my dad taught me that one.

Wake up at 5:30am, brush your teeth, and make your bed. Atomic habits, I’m telling you.