Interview with Dr Charlotte Eckhardt FDS Dean

What inspired you to become an orthodontist? 

I went into dentistry initially with the view of doing maxillofacial surgery, and I did that for four years. With dentistry, I realised I liked the surgical side rather than the dental practice side. I was working in a DGH (District General Hospital), and there were a lot of facial deformities. The orthodontist was the one who did all the planning.  

Orthodontics is a very cerebral specialty. A lot of it is physics, so you're putting forces on things. But I enjoyed the idea of how you could improve both function and aesthetics. I have two master’s degrees. My first one is in orthodontics, which looked at the soft tissue changes that you get with hard tissue movement;. I completed this in 2002. That fitted very well with my second master's, aesthetic medicine, which I completed in 2015. It's a very similar process. 
 
That was what drove it. I was very interested in facial deformity, and I didn't feel I necessarily had to do the surgery side of it. I like planning and troubleshooting if something isn't quite going right in surgery. 

What do you enjoy most about being Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the College?

I think it's the variety of work. I was Vice Dean and Senior Vice Dean before this, and until you become Dean, you don't know half of what goes on. The things that cross my desk are so varied. Much of it concerns general dentistry, which I’ll put my hand up and say I've never worked as a general dentist. Therefore, it's not my forte, but I can look at things in a very analytical way. I'm quite happy to ask for advice from people on the ground doing those things.  

I think the variation and interaction in teams drive me with my facial deformity and cleft lip and palate work. The fact that you're working in a team with many different specialties is what drives me. That is what it's like here. Tim Mitchell, President of RCS England, is in ENT (ear, nose and throat surgery) next door. Our Vice-Presidents are also a wide range—it's the variety of people and the variety of work. 

You are an inspiration to many. Specifically, for those identifying as women, what piece of advice would you give to those wishing to pursue a career in orthodontics? 

It's very competitive. When I went into orthodontics, cardiology was the only other field in medicine and dentistry that was more competitive. There were about eight people for every job and every registrar post. It was massive. 

So be organised, have a goal, and go for it. I think the days of being able to know somebody and get a role are long gone. You have to be very goal-driven.  

I think you have to be kind because you will be working with these people afterwards. I used to run the exams for the College, and that was my pep talk to the examiners. You need to be kind, but you need to be driven. Just because you go for something and don't get it doesn't mean that you're not good enough; it just means that somebody was a little bit better on that particular day. Don't be put off by something because you don't get it on that day. 

If you want something, keep going for it, and you will succeed. The best things in life are the things that are worth fighting for, aren't they? So, you put that effort in, stick to your guns, and do what you want to do. 

What inspires you on a daily basis? What do you like to do to maintain a good work-life balance? 

I'm a complete keep-fit fanatic. I have a stringent exercise program that goes on behind the scenes. I'll do four to five spin classes a week. I have two personal trainer sessions a week. I'm very much into Lagree, which is like a reformer pilates type of exercise. I do that a couple of times a week, and I like to keep very physically fit. I think it keeps you grounded, it keeps you motivated, it keeps you fresh. That's what I do and have done since I was a child - I've never let up. That keeps me going. I think if I hadn't had that, I wouldn't have coped with the demands of what I was doing here.