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Grad keeps dentistry tradition in family by Cindy Abole Public Relations Golf legend Jack Nicklaus once said about golf: “Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.”   Hard work is synonymous with College of Dental Medicine graduate Julian “Spence” Dixon IV, DMD. And like his fellow graduates, Dixon has given dental school a better than par effort.   Dr. Spence Dixon's wife, Jill, straightens his cap. Originally from Orangeburg, Dixon was destined toward dentistry and MUSC. He is the son of dental practitioner Julian Dixon III, a 1975 MUSC dental alumnus. Sister, Cori Dixon Barker, is a 2000 communication sciences and disorders graduate from the College of Health Professions. Wife, Joy Wray Dixon, graduated with last year’s dental medicine class and just completed a general dentistry residency at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center. They met at dental school and married in 2005.   “My father was my first influence in dentistry,” said Dixon, who also was attracted to medicine and surgery in high school. “I remember helping him in his practice during the summers. I did handyman work and other jobs.”      A 2002 Wofford graduate, Dixon’s path to dental school was not straightforward. He decided to take a year off of academics to work as a cart attendant at Kiawah Island Golf Resort.    “I needed time to rethink of my options,” said Dixon. “I applied and interviewed in December 2003, was rejected in February, and a month later, I was offered a slot and taken off the waiting list.”   From his first day, Dixon’s focus and determination helped him thrive. He was active with his class and the MUSC Chapter of the Delta Sigma Delta Dental Fraternity. Within his first year, he was invited to serve with the MUSC Dental Student Alumni Council. The group works with current dental students, dental alumni and MUSC Alumni Affairs Office to coordinate fundraising, philanthropy and support continuing education among dental professionals around the state.   “Spence has always been an exceptional student,” said Monica Cayouette, DMD, the council’s faculty advisor and associate professor and director of CDM’s Division of Implants, Department of Restorative Dentistry. “Spence was active in helping to plan continuing education events, career workshops and alumni weekend activities, especially when his wife, Joy, served as council president in 2006. With all his experience, Spence already is an asset to the profession.”   When it came time to choose a dental specialty, Dixon liked orthodontics.   “Orthodontics is like a puzzle. After seeing a patient, the specialist develops a treatment plan after analyzing and deciding a course of action. It can be pretty challenging, because every case is different for each patient,” Dixon said. “When a job is complete it is genuinely a happy moment for the patient and specialist. It's the result of a transformation that brings a positive result that can be seen immediately.”   This summer, Dixon will begin a two-year orthodontics residency at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. “Rejection was exactly what I needed at the time in my life. It fired me up, motivated and challenged me,” Dixon said. “By the time I was ready to begin dental school, I was focused and ready to work. I felt I had something to prove, especially to myself. If the path to dental school was easy, I don't think this achievement would mean as much to me as it does now.” Spence couldn’t have made it without: 1. Wife, Joy 2. Lifelong friendships, CDM Class of 2007 3. The “secret room” or study room 4. Support from my parents 5. Finding motivation to achieve academic success and my orthodontics residency     Friday, May 18, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.