Experienced Dental Surgeon Gets Renewed Look on Dentistry

When Olusegun Olaopa got board-certified as an oral maxillofacial surgeon in Nigeria, he felt he got what he needed to make a significant impact. He loved his work.

But he soon realized his passion alone wasn’t enough with the limited resources of the country.

He decided to change his own path and take his career to the US, enrolling in Rutgers School of Dental Medicine’s (RSDM) Internationally Educated DMD Program, specially designed for students trained abroad. A year into the program, his views on dentistry began to transform.

For instance, for the first time, he saw a metal-based denture. “Many of our complex prosthetic learning [in Nigeria] were theoretical at predoctoral level, but here you see those things written in textbooks and actually do them,” he said. Putting on dental loupes and getting a closeup view of teeth was a first, too. “[The program] makes me feel there is more to dentistry than oral maxillofacial surgery, and it changed my perception about dentistry as a whole.”

Olaopa had chosen oral maxillofacial surgery because it felt realistic and tangible. “You see a problem, you tackle it,” he said. “I'm a practical person and that was why I liked it, and it also comes with immediate gratification [of solving a problem].”

In Nigeria, he was at different times, the president of the Association of Resident Doctors, University College Hospital Ibadan and the national association, leading over 16,000 medical and dental residents. “The association is the first of its kind in West Africa and perhaps Africa,” he said and added that he wrote a book on the association’s history as it had no previous written record.

He documented other things in his career, too, like the first case of Gardner syndrome in Nigeria. “I love research,” he said. Besides oral surgery, his work extends to forensics­—in which he has a master's—and health systems for their effectiveness, especially during COVID-19.

His versatile interest expanded during the pandemic. He initially made face shields in his apartment. Then, he had a business idea: farming. “In Nigeria, you are not allowed to do any other business that conflicts with your work except for agriculture,” he noted. He bought some land and collaborated with experts from an agricultural institute in Ibadan to start growing oil palm and plantains for wholesale.

While his business bloomed, he wanted more from his surgical career. “Many times, when I operated, I’d struggle and improvise with instruments and equipment,” he said.​ He observed that patients also struggled with medical coverage and access.

Frustrated, he eyed overseas and reached out to programs in the US for clinical fellowships, all of which required a US degree for oral maxillofacial surgery. So, he came to RSDM.

“I love it so far,” he said. The program has been challenging him as well because RSDM’s clinical requirements are much more expansive and rigorous compared to others. “Because you do a lot [of procedures], the skill comes naturally,” he said. “I think it’s one of the major strengths of the school.”