Lasting Impressions | Fall 2014

NSU COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE © 27 One thing Krieger didn’t know was that Cohen— who would grow the Seattle Study Club into a world- wide network of 250 chapters—was about to take him on as a project. “I saw in Glenn a thirst for learning,” Cohen said. “I could see a clear path for him becoming a great dentist. I knew he could develop to his maximum potential with guidance.” And so the “project” began. During the next 18 years, Krieger purchased a practice, acquiring $770,000 in debt; completed a three-year advanced restorative dentistry program at the University of Washington; and by 2002, had become a restor- ative adviser for the Seattle Study Club, presenting cases at the organization’s national symposium. It was another mentor—Ward Smalley, D.D.S., M.S.D.—who taught Krieger about photography and using it as a tool to com- municate with patients. He learned to use mirrors and retractors in his photography, taught his friends clinical photography, and lectured to Seattle Study Club chapters around the country. Despite the success photography has brought him—Krieger was traveling around the world and presenting his own two- day course in Seattle—his wife was ready to escape rainy Seat- tle. It was 2010 and time to chase another dream: becoming an orthodontist. “I was at the top of my game,” he says. “I was teaching, I was a restorative adviser, I was lectur- ing internationally, and I had letters of recommendation from some big names in orthodontics.” The next year, he began attending NSU’s CDM. He will graduate in December. “The CDM’s clinical program is one of its strengths,” said Krieger, who is the chief resident in his 21-member program. “They’re trying to turn out a good clinician.” Moreover, the CDM’s daily diagnostic conference, its wide variety of instructors and teaching meth- ods, and the ability to work closely in the clinics with other specialties are all drawing cards for NSU’s program, he said. With graduation just months away, Krieger knows he and his family—wife, Alissa; daughter, Jordan, 14; and 10-year-old twins Devin and Zachary—will be staying in South Florida. He’ll join John Marchetto, D.M.D., in his practice in Weston. “He’s genuine,” said Marchetto, who met Krieger through the Boca Raton chapter of the Seattle Study Club. “He knows dentistry, but is always learning more about the field, and that’s hard to find.” Michael Cohen agrees. “Glenn Krieger can be a top orthodontist. He can be a leader in ortho,” Cohen said. “He has a database of experience and a true understanding of restorative dentistry, not just moving teeth and making them look good. He has an understanding of all the elements that make a good orthodontist.” As graduation looms, Krieger con- tinues to take his time at the CDM very seriously. “I had a successful practice, a career lec- turing, all of our friends in Seattle, a paycheck, and I took on a loan,” he reflected. “The gamble my family and I took has been worth it. If you’re not going to go at this full bore, why are you doing it? I traded in my entire life for this. Do you think I’m going to do it halfway?” u