In this episode, we are joined by Zerita Buchanan, DDS, fourth generation dentist, owner of the private practice Dental Dreams, LLC in Lithonia, GA, and the current Joseph L. Henry Oral Health Fellow at The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.  Dr. Buchanan completed her undergraduate degree at Spelman college and her dental degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry. We discuss the barriers that prevent students from pursuing dentistry, reasons why dentistry and medicine remain separate intervention pathways, and how oral health influences our whole health.  As Dr. Buchanan mentors future students in programs like IDID (Increasing Diversity in Dentistry) program; she stresses the importance of perseverance, support systems and self-care.