There was a time when several young children thought about becoming an astronaut when they would grow up, but not Dr. Fariba Kalantari. As a youngster, she looked like one . . . thanks to her childhood orthodontist. Chin strap. Shiny metal. The works. In spite of the additional social awkwardness the back-in-the-day contraption conveyed at that time in her life, Fariba enjoyed the visits to her orthodontist. When she was nine, Fariba fixated on the neat-looking tools and gadgets and devices that surrounded her while in his dental office. However, she could not ignore the gentle, kind approach he used in making her feel comfortable as a patient; nor could she forget the look of joy in his eyes when he was working on her teeth. It was a defining moment – Fariba decided to become a dentist.

As the youngest student to graduate from the Columbia University School of Dentistry in 1992, Fariba’s dental career has been filled with learning experiences. She was awarded with Fellowships in the Academy of General Dentistry and the International Congress of Oral Implantology. She has taken (and still attends) dental continuation courses. But when asked about her most prestigious educational achievement, Fariba doesn’t hesitate to talk about a senior citizen who was a patient of hers back at her Cliffside (NJ) practice.

Josephine was a sweet-as-could-be 72-year-old woman with plenty of pep left in her step, and she and Fariba quickly bonded during several dental visits. Several months later, Fariba noticed that Josephine failed to schedule an appointment for her regular cleaning. It didn’t take Fariba long to discover the reason. Josephine has been in a coma for two months because of car accident. She did recover, but her teeth weren’t as fortunate.

Fariba rearranged as many appointments as she could – working many nights and weekends – to carefully and meticulously fix each and every tooth in Josephine’s mouth that could be salvaged, which she did. However, Josephine lost her entire upper bridge in the accident. She didn’t want a portable one to replace it, so Fariba tried to refer her to a well-known implantologist in the area, but she refused to go to the specialist. Instead Josephine insisted that Fariba, who up until this point had no interest in spending what little free time she had learning implantology, do the implant and save her dental bones. Immediately, Fariba took the necessary courses and became an implantologist . . and successfully performed the procedure for Josephine – her sole reason for learning the skill.

Today, Fariba lives in the greater Los Angeles area with her husband Nick and son Arman. She finds that the serenity of sitting on a local sandy beach and looking out at the horizon is a perfect time for reflection, so she does this frequently. And whenever she sits there, Fariba thinks about Josephine, in addition to many other wonderful people who have touched her life, and in one form or another . . .have served as her inspiration.

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