Dr. Yurdanur Ucar

I spent the first 17 years of my life in southern Turkey in a cozy town located on the Mediterranean coast, called Iskenderun or Alexandretta, close to the Syrian border. I had a very happy childhood in a big family. My mom and dad were teachers and I was the third daughter with one younger brother. With four siblings of similar ages, we were each other’s best friends. I have a total of 64 cousins and it was amazing to have such a big family!

I was privileged to live in a village for three years before I started elementary school. We had a large single-family house with a huge garden that included all kinds of fruit trees and different plants. The fig tree was my favorite and I was always excited about strawberries. We also had a dozen chickens and two sheep that would wait for us in front of the garden door. There was also a small swimming pool in our garden where I learned to swim with my eldest sister’s help. My mom and dad took us swimming at the nearest beach every Sunday during the summer. We loved it. 

My parents and all my siblings live in Turkey. Every time I fly back, it’s a reason for a family reunion. Before I came to the U.S., we’d have a family reunion for a week each summer in a different beachside city. My parents were the happiest people on earth with all their kids and grandkids together.

A special memory was when my mom decided to go to college. She’d always wanted to get an advanced education, but her father was very strict and wouldn’t let her. She married my father when she was 18 and had four kids by the age of 24. My father was a teacher when they got married and he was very supportive when my mom said she wanted to get a college degree. So she attended the college of education when I was three and my other siblings were two, five, and six years old. While she was away at college, my father and grandmother took good care of us. It was exciting when my mom came home for a visit every other week. She always brought my favorite candies – one that looked like a sliced tangerine and a white candy shaped like a four-leaf clover that had a mint flavor!

At first, I wanted to be a translator or study international relations, but I realized in high school that I wasn’t good in social sciences. So I switched to science classes. In Turkey, there’s a national university entrance exam and we had to submit our college choices before taking the exam. I was 17 when I took the exam and I listed two medical colleges, two dental colleges, and two pharmacy colleges. The test results placed me in dentistry. In my first year of dental school I became very passionate about dentistry – especially after taking my first prosthetic dentistry course. If I had to go back and make a decision again, I would pick dental school without a doubt!

When I was a PhD candidate in prosthetic dentistry at Cukurova University in Turkey, I received a scholarship from the government’s Higher Education Council that supported doctoral studies abroad. So I applied to the oral biology PhD program at Ohio State and at the rival school “up north.” I was determined to enroll in the school that sent me the first acceptance letter, and that was Ohio State. The day I received that letter was the turning point of my life. Professionally, this university has given me a sound education and a rewarding career as an academician. On a personal note, I also met my husband when I was a graduate student here at Ohio State. He was a PhD student in the College of Education. We got married in Columbus with a small but very sweet wedding ceremony with international guests from 10 different countries. I’m so thankful that I was accepted to Ohio State as a student and I’m very proud to be a faculty member. I’m a living example of the slogan that says, “Once a Buckeye, always a Buckeye!”

My husband and I had been married three years when our daughter was born on our anniversary! We both think she’s the best gift we ever received.

For the 3D printing of dental materials, some future advances may include new material options with different mechanical and optical properties that cover a wider range of indications. Additive manufacturing will be replacing most, if not all, applications of subtractive manufacturing. On the 3D bio-printing side, applications of regenerative medicine will be a routine treatment option. In dentistry, 3D bio-printing of bone and soft tissues will be common. So patients with bone deficiencies will have a chance to be treated with implant-supported restorations much more easily than now. Bio-printing applications will not be limited to dentistry, of course. We should expect to see 3D bio-printed vital tissues and even organs as treatment options for people who are waiting for organ donors. Regenerative medicine applications with 3D bio-printing probably will not be common in the near future; however, scientific progress and technological developments will finally take us there one day!

My greatest adventure is related to learning English when I was 11. I was very excited about speaking English and I believed that everyone who spoke English was trustworthy. So on a lazy summer afternoon, my mom asked me to go to the local bakery and buy fresh bread for our usual family lunch. I rode my bike to the bakery and learned that the bread wouldn’t be ready for an hour. I noticed an English-speaking tourist in his mid-sixties who was also asking for bread. He was a typical motorcyclist, wearing jeans and a leather jacket with a long beard – just like in the American movies!

The motorcyclist didn’t speak Turkish and the bakers didn’t speak English, but they were trying to explain that the bread wasn’t ready. The motorcyclist didn’t understand what they were saying, so I proudly stepped in and explained in English that the bread wouldn’t be finished for a while. I told him I’d ride to another bakery a little further along and I suggested that he could join me. He was happy about the offer and rode his huge Yamaha motorbike while I rode my old bicycle. We chatted while we rode and we eventually arrived at the next bakery and bought freshly baked bread that smelled wonderful. The motorcyclist said he’d like to introduce me to his wife, daughter, and son. He suggested that I leave my bike and join him on his motorbike since the ride would take too long with my bicycle. I easily trusted him, jumped on his bike and enjoyed the ride. I was very happy to meet his family and had a brief chat with them. They asked me to share their lunch, but I knew my family was waiting for me and the bread they needed for lunch. So the motorcyclist gave me a ride back to where I left my bike. 

When I got home, I thought my parents would be proud that I had helped a tourist and practiced English. I couldn’t have been more wrong! They’d been worried when I was late coming home, so my father had gone to the bakery to see if I needed help. He was told that I left my bike and rode away with an American tourist on his motorcycle. Of course, my father was tremendously concerned and when I arrived home, everybody was extremely relieved – and upset. I had to go through a long explanation followed by a discussion about my actions that could have had very dangerous consequences. I had a hard time understanding my parents’ concern at the time, but I eventually realized I’d had a great adventure that, under other circumstances, might not have turned out so well!

Happiness day! People would have a day to do whatever makes them happy.

The question: “Considering your life experiences so far, what advice would you give our readers?” And the answer: “Love and believe in yourself. Be stubborn. Never give up. You are the one who can make a difference in your life, so be enthusiastic about what you do. Success comes only when you love what you do – and life is not always long, so be happy while you can!”