I was involved… In high school, I was thinking about doing engineering. And it’s interesting that eventually engineering become a big part of dentistry, but I didn’t know that for the next 40 years. When I became interested in dentistry was through my own orthodontic experience. My background is I’m from Cape Town in South Africa. I grew up knowing that I was gonna leave South Africa. And I had to think of some profession that I could take with me because that’s the only thing I was leaving with was a profession and a degree. So, very early on, I became interested in periodontics. And I had a mentor at my school who said, ” Listen, this is what you want to do, it’s a phenomenal experience and a phenomenal way to practice dentistry.” And so, within halfway through my dental degree, I was already knowing that I was gonna go into periodontics.
So, I left South Africa in the early 80s and pursued a post-grad degree in periodontics and dental implants at USC School of Dentistry. The luck that I had then was, is that this was just at the advent of what we call, modern dental root form implants. And I was lucky to be trained by Dr. Brånemark in 1985 in some of the earlier courses of implants. And that changed the trajectory of how we thought about periodontics and dental implants.
Dentistry enables us to meet very, very interesting people. And we meet people across all walks of life. I find that always stimulating, especially having moved to a new country 40 years ago almost, and meeting a far more diverse population. That has been very interesting for me. The satisfaction of providing a service that can often be extremely beneficial to changing somebody’s life, especially now, when we’re getting into more complete rehabilitation cases. And rehabilitation being the keyword of not just teeth, but the way they function, and the way they can go out in the world. So, this is always satisfying. And a thank you still means a lot to me.
Dr. Jonathan Gordon Will Ensure Your Gums Are Healthy
Dr. Jonathan Gordon was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. He graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in Cape Town in 1983. In 1986 he received his certificate in periodontology from the University of Southern California School of Dentistry in Los Angeles. Also in 1986, he received his California state license. He became a Diplomate for the American Board of Periodontology in 1993.
From 1986-1990 Dr. Gordon was the clinical instructor for the University of Southern California Department of Postdoctoral Periodontology. During this time he was also the course instructor for Combined Perio/Prosthodontic Treatment Planning, Periodontal Surgical Therapy, and Treatment Planning in Periodontics.
Dr. Gordon’s professional affiliations include:
- American Dental Association
- California Dental Association
- American Academy of Periodontology
- California Society of Periodontology
