Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/3812/-1/135/
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Another Anguillian Now Dental Surgeon
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There is reason for considerable pride that another Anguillian has assumed the post of Senior Dental Surgeon on the island. He is Dr. Lindel Brooks, DDS, who has succeeded Dr. Collen Mussington, the first national and female dentist to hold the appointment. Dr. Brooks, who is already on the job, has expressed thanks to her for her kindness and cooperation in assisting him in taking charge of the Dental Unit. Dr. Mussington, daughter of Stanley and Loma Mussington, will now be furthering her studies.
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Dr. Lindel Brooks, DDS
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Dr. Brooks, who has been returning annually to Anguilla from the United States during the summer, and providing some temporary dental services, has always expressed an interest to return home permanently to serve his country-folk. That opportunity has now come with his employment by the Health Authority of Anguilla and, according to him, he has no plans to return to America to practice.
His mother, Ruby, resides in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. He is the nephew of well-known former Librarian, Audrey Brooks, John Brooks, Mayor of Branbury in the United Kingdom and the late Nurse Vida Lloyd.
Dr. Brooks has a passion for dentistry which readily comes out in even a normal conversation with him. His early education was obtained in Anguilla at the Valley Boys’ School and the Valley Secondary School. He served as a Customers Officer before travelling to the United States to further his studies.
He left Anguilla in 1973 and was a student at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he completed a Bachelor of Science degree in 1977. The following year he enrolled in a Master’s programme at Tennessee State University where he did one year. The following year he was accepted at Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry and completed his dental degree in 1985. He then joined the Faculty in the Department of Operative Dentistry and worked there for sometime during which he was also engaged in private practice on a part-time basis. He was later transferred to the Prosthodonic Department and worked in the Fixed and Removal Section and taught various courses.
Dr. Brooks, holder of the DDS degree (Doctor of Dental Surgery), explained that “a Prosthodontist is basically a restorative Dentist who has had additional training in restoring the mouth with regards to missing teeth to ideal functions and aesthetics.” He left Meharry in 2003 on study leave to do this specialty in Prosthodonics at Nova South Eastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Dr. Brooks had been in the United States for a long time. He was asked about his decision to eventually return home. “Over the years I have always mentioned that I want to come home but I never thought for a moment that I would be away for so long,” he replied. “However, in the last five years, I made the decision that I would come home, but then I realised that I may not be as equipped as I would like to be with regard to the future of dentistry. So I made a commitment to go back to school and do this speciality in Prosthodonics so I started that in 2003 and completed it three years later in June of this year. So now I feel very confident and comfortable in regards to providing dental services from the traditional to the more advanced.
“When we talk about advanced dentistry, the diagnostic phase of treatment has become so complex with implant therapy and also with the demands of the patient. We have patients who want it now, in a sense similar to the fast-food industry, where you can drive up to the window and get your meal; or in the banking business, where you can drive up to a window as well. I am not suggesting that the advances in dentistry are so simple. As a matter of fact they are very complex because it requires a tremendous amount of study, understanding and discipline so that one can really diagnose and develop a treatment plan. This is not only in harmony with the desires of the patient, but also has to do with what is best for that patient relative to current trends of treatment and evidence to support the treatment plan.”
Dr. Brooks has a keen interest in the education of the public, and department staff, with respect to various matters of dental care and treatment, which will be outlined later in further information in The Anguillian.
Dr. Brooks is most welcome back home, especially for the obvious sacrifice he has made, for his love for country and the privilege that is now his to serve his fellowmen.