Where Are They Now? Catching Up with Some of Our Graduates

If these faces look familiar, it may be because they were on the cover of the first issue of the Dental Journal, back in 2013. We followed their progress—and others’—through school. Now that they have sped past their five-year graduation anniversary, we checked in with them to see how their aspirations for life and dentistry have evolved so far.

HAMZA DODO, '17 DDS

Building relationships with patients was the highlight of Dr. Hamza Dodo's experiences as a College of Dentistry student and as a general practice resident at St. Elizabeth's Dental Clinic in Youngstown. He particularly enjoyed hearing their varied life stories. Today, as a general practitioner at a practice with offices in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and Columbus' German Village, Dr. Dodo still finds getting to know his patients one of the best parts of his career. "There is a different patient base at each of our offices, and the dental issues they tend to have are also different. As I move between offices, I get to flex different muscles in my brain," he said. 

When he isn't working, he continues "flexing" by playing soccer in a community league and regularly visiting the gym. Looking back at his time at Ohio State, he misses the connections with his classmates. 

"I hope everyone is doing well and finding their niche," he said. Years after graduation, he still appreciates his faculty. "In retrospect, I realize how much patience instructors have to have when working with students. I'm grateful for the patience they showed me while I was learning to do this job."

NICOLE (GOETTEMOELLER) GETTINGS, '17 DDS

The dairy farm on which Dr. Nicole Gettings grew up is in Maria Stein, Ohio, a community of 1,200. That upbringing in a rural environment instilled in her a commitment to community that still inspires her current work. Today, she practices general dentistry at Brown and Gettings in the Cincinnati, Ohio, suburb of West Chester. There, she enjoys having a mix of rural and suburban patients, whom she treats like family. Her own family now includes Peter, a high school math teacher whom she married before her last year of dental school, and two young sons, Oliver and Jude. 

She is involved in the local dental society and dental study clubs, and looks forward to taking part in more community activities when her children are older. "Being a mom of young kids takes up most of my free time," she said, "but as they get older I hope to be able to incorporate those things into my life." 

Dr. Gettings decided on a career in dentistry as an undergraduate at the University of Dayton. "I wanted to combine my love of science, working with my hands, and engaging with others," 
she said. "Ohio State prepared me well. It gave me the tools I needed for a solid foundation. Building on my knowledge base has been fun, largely because the basics were taught well at Ohio State. I have found that dentistry has been pretty close to my expectations, though maybe a little bit more stressful some days than I imagined." 

Most of all, she values the community of friends she made at the college. "The biggest take-away from my time at Ohio State has been the lasting friendships with fellow classmates, who are now colleagues." True to her upbringing, it's community that matters most to Dr. Nicole Gettings.

JORDAN MAYBERRY, '17 DDS

In the years since Dr. Jordan Mayberry stepped out of the classroom and into the family profession, his life has changed dramatically. Married in 2019, he and his wife, Amy, were already busy at home with a 2-year-old son, Grant, when twins Kate and Henry came along this March. Dr. Mayberry is enjoying his career as a general practitioner in Cincinnati, Ohio, but a career in dentistry was not a foregone conclusion for this third-generation dentist. His father, David Mayberry, '80 DDS, retired in 2021 after more than 40 years of practice in their hometown of Barnesville, Ohio, where Jordan's late grandfather, Donald, '54 DDS, also practiced. "I always wanted to be in the healthcare field," Jordan explained, "but it wasn't until midway through college at Muskingum University that I decided on dentistry." 

He credits the college for providing a solid foundation for his career. "I feel that the excellent educators at Ohio State provided me with a well-rounded knowledge base to build upon," Dr. Mayberry said.

After a general practice residency at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, he worked in Columbus for a few years before the family moved to Cincinnati. There, he joined a group practicing general dentistry, where he provides IV moderate conscious sedation and services ranging from restorative and endodontics to complete bony-impacted third molars and implants. "Dentistry has proven to be more rewarding than I ever expected," he said. "It has its challenges, but when I see how grateful my patients are and how their lives are changed, it gives me a strong sense of purpose. Every day, I help fearful and special needs patients who have limited or no other options for treatment without being sedated. It's a position that is truly fulfilling."

CHRIS RHEES, '17 DDS

When Dr. Chris Rhees graduated and headed directly into the Air Force, he already had a family: wife, Katie, and sons, Carson and Brayden. Although he hoped for an overseas assignment, he spent a year of residency at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, and was then sent to Minot, North Dakota, for three years.

After his discharge, he bought a practice from a family friend in Idaho Falls, Idaho, near where he had earned his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University-Idaho. He finds private practice quite different from dentistry in the military. "The military is a large organization with a lot of regulations and red tape," he said. "It was a great place to get my speed and confidence up. The hardest part of the transition from military dentistry was that, in private practice, money matters and drives many patients' [decisions about] treatment plans." 

Dentistry is turning out to be everything he expected and more. "I feel like things just keep working out and are going as planned so far. There have been hiccups along the way, but we are loving where we are and how blessed our life is." The Rheeses now have three sons. Dr. Rhees is active in his church, coaches his son's baseball team, and even manages to find time for a men's golf league.

He said he'll never forget his time at Ohio State. "I made life-long friends and unforgettable memories. I was a part of a great university and great tradition. Best of all, I skipped the first day of a semester to go to Texas to watch our Buckeyes win a national championship. Go Bucks!"