Initially, it was healthcare and I didn’t know whether or not I was going to go to medical school or to dental school. I got accepted to both schools and I felt dentistry was going to be a little shorter route. Once I did get accepted into dental school and completed dental school, I decided to specialize in children with it. So I found out that that was an additional two more years. And then I did a fellowship, which was an additional one year. So I could have gone to medical school. I was trying to take the shorter way out. But once into dentistry, I spent so much time trying to do the behavioral modification type of dentistry. Okay. Can I change their behavior as opposed to using a lot of drugs?
So I left. I went to UCLA and that’s where I received my Master’s in Public Health. And so they put the emphasis … because I was in class with a lot of physicians and it was an accelerated program. But they put the emphasis on dentistry. So I decided to do my work in behavioral modification. Then after that, I was able to transform a very fearful child into a child that was able to accept dentistry. So I decided to stay in this model and I’m pretty good at it.
While the most rewarding is to see the children grow up, not being afraid of dentistry. And just like one of my patients I just talked to, she told me she graduated and now she’s in college and she wants to be an architect. So I still see these patients. I guess it’s rewarding because the patients want to stay with the practice. So that would be a segue into why I decided to hire a general dentist to see some of my older patients, because my patients really didn’t want to leave. So this practice really is relationship based, developing a relationship with the patient. Then after the relationship is established, embarking on trust. Once we have trust, then the patients, they do a lot of in house referrals. And we start seeing patients, starting with the children, then the fathers. You would think the mothers, but no, then the fathers, then the mothers. So we see entire family.
Dr. Arlene M. Joyner Is Passionate About Her Patients
Dr. Joyner has been a staple of the Los Angeles dental community since 1979. She opened our dental practice in 1985 to provide the highest quality care and service to children in the Los Angeles area. Having completed her fellowship training with a focus on special needs children, Dr. Joyner has a distinct interest in treating special needs patients, particularly children with autism.
Patients love Dr. Joyner because of the amount of time she spends with them and because she is truly caring and builds trust in her patient relationships. Her favorite part of her job is turning a fearful child into one who loves to come to the dentist with no fear at all.
Being very active in various charitable organizations, Dr. Joyner devotes much of her time to mentoring and caring for underserved children in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas areas. She has two children – a daughter, Brooke, and Dr. Brent Tucker, her son who has joined her in practice here at Hawthorne Smile Spa. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, walking, and traveling.
Dr. Joyner’s credentials include:
- DDS – Howard University College of Dentistry, Washington, DC
- Certificate of Completion of Pediatric Dental Residency – University of California Los Angeles
- Fellowship in Pediatric Dentistry – University of California Los Angeles
- Master of Public Health – University of California Los Angeles
- Diplomate – American Board of Pediatric Dentistry
- Faculty – University of Nevada, Las Vegas Pediatric Dentistry Residency