Dr. Holland's practice is Mount Pisgah Family Dental in Eugene. Although he grew up in rural New Jersey, Dr. Holland has lived in Oregon since 2007 and graduated from OHSU in 2013. He has advanced training in IV sedation, dental implants, and pediatric dentistry. He is also an Academy of General Dentistry Fellow. Dr. Holland's family enjoys outdoor activities such as skiing and mountain biking. They are also Oregon Duck Basketball fans.
Oregon is your second home state; how did you end up here? Do you still have family in New Jersey? I grew up in northern New Jersey and it was real pretty. There is a lot of farm land there and it reminds me of the Willamette Valley. I moved to New York after college to be an engineer but after a few years I decided to switch careers to become a dentist. I wanted to move to either Colorado or Oregon to go to dental school so I chose Oregon because of its proximity to the ocean and at the time I was really into track and field.
It sounds like your family loves the great outdoors. Did you play any sports or ski when you were younger? I played a lot of basketball when I was growing up but I also did some downhill skiing. The snow in New Jersey and the East in general is very icy and not great for carving turns I feel spoiled skiing out here since I have yet to ski on sheet of ice in Oregon.
Why did you choose dentistry as a career? Are you the first dentist in your family? I was working as a fire protection engineer but not loving the job so I took a career test and it pointed me towards dentistry. I am not the first dentist in my family. My grandfather Albert Holland had a dental practice in New Jersey for 30 years.
Are there any areas of dentistry you are interested in or want to do more of in your practice?I take a lot of classes with the Oregon Academy of General Dentistry so it’s a great birds eye view of what types of care you can provide for your patients. Currently I’m spending a lot of my learning about oral facial pain.
When did you first start getting into comedy? When I lived in New York City after college I did it for three years but then I took a 10 year break when I got busy with dental school and having a family.
When did you create your stage name, and what inspired you? I use a stage name because I was pretty bad at stand up when I restarted and I didn’t want people to find out how bad I was. No one wants to see their dentist dying on stage.
What is the funniest thing about dentistry? I like reading the notes the hygienists write regarding the personal affects of the patients like: “Patient has a cat named Trudy and won a hot dog last summer on vacation in Iowa.” You read the notes and you’re like ‘how would someone describe me in two sentences to make my dental seem more magical?’
Do you have any advice for dentists who want to make their practice more fun for themselves, staff and/or patients? I guess its obvious that you need to hire people you like being around so that its fun to come to work. Also I think you got to keep taking continuing education so you always have something you are excited about in dentistry.
Is there anything else that you would like to share about yourself? I performed in the Hell Yes Comedy Festival, the B4Udie Comedy Festival, the Portland Maine Festival and Don’t Tell Comedy shows.
