INTRODUCING WEST SUBURBAN DR. MOM–Dr. Jiana Pahigianis Panos, DDS
Working at two dental offices, caring for both children and adults, while also having three children of your own can be seen as a handful to many.
Dr. Jiana Pahigianis Panos, DDS, of Advanced Family Dental and Orthodontics, PC in Lockport and Tic Tac Tooth Pediatric Dentistry in Naperville is continuously working hard to balance her life between work and family.
I interviewed Dr. Panos to get an inside look into her everyday life with work and caring for her three children; Vasi, Eleni, and George “A typical work day for me starts out early by getting the kids ready and dropped off at school then heading into work,” Dr. Panos began. Working at Tic Tac Tooth on Mondays and one Saturday a month and Advanced Family Dental and Orthodontics on Wednesdays and Thursdays. “I get home at dinner time and am able to spend a couple of hours with my husband and kids and preparing for the next day,” she continued. With busy work days, there are still busy days off for a mother of three. “My days off are spent running errands, taking kids to school and activities, and preparing for the rest of the week,” Dr. Panos said.
The dream of being a dentist wasn’t always there for Dr. Panos. “As a little girl, I wanted to be a teacher,” she explained. “My uncle was our family dentist and he used to ask my sisters and I who was going to be a dentist when we grew up and I remember thinking to myself “Not me, that’s boring!” I was wrong,” she joked.
Dr. Panos became interested in becoming a dentist at her high school graduation party. She told me a story of her family friend attending the party explaining to her what a root canal was. “With his interesting explanation and my love for science, I decided to pursue dentistry at this point,” Dr. Panos said. “Dentistry allows me to bring together all of the things I love: science, creativity, problem solving, and most of all, providing an important and needed service to people,” she explained with passion.
Dr. Panos stabilizes the “teeter tooter” of life with children and demanding work with patience, compassion, and love for both her occupation and her family.
Advanced Family Dental & Orthodontics - www.advancedfamilydental.com
Tic Tac Tooth Pediatric Dentistry, Naperville - www.tictactooth.com
ABOUT THE WRITER Amanda Pavletic of Naperville is an incoming senior at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan where she is studying Health Communications, hoping to follow her dreams of working in Public Relations/Communications with a health emphasis. Amanda is Glancer Magazine’s 2018 Editorial Intern who will be writing a new feature column titled "Dr. Mom" where she will highlight a west suburban area mom who is also a medical physician. Amanda will focus on a day in the life of each Dr. Mom and will share about her medical practice as well. Amanda plays club soccer at Grand Valley and loves to exercise in her spare time. She also enjoys reading, writing, cooking, and playing with her dog, Wrigley, an 8-month-old mini Pomadoodle. Dr. Mom will appear in each issue of Glancer Magazine from June through September. Subscribe today so you don't miss out on Amanda's informative, unique and totally captivating column.
