Dr. Cline, a graduate of Alvin High School, attended Tulane University on a football scholarship. He then continued his education at the University of Texas School of Dentistry (UTSD) Houston where he received his Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1981. He completed a two year hospital based residency at L.S.U. School of Dentistry / Charity Hospital of New Orleans in 1983.
In 1991, Dr. Cline became Associate Clinical Professor at UTSD, participating as clinical professor at the General Practice Residency Program at Herman Hospital. Dr. Cline continues his relationship with the residency program.
Dr. Charles Cline has been practicing dentistry in League City since 1984. Early in his career he was impacted by Pankey Institute, which stresses a patient-centered practice philosophy: Treat your patients as if you were the patient. One of the most enjoyable aspects of dentistry is in developing relationships with people, listening to your life stories, sharing in the good times and the bad times. For us, developing trust is one of the ingredients to successful dental care.
Over the years of practicing dentistry, I have come to the realization that the people whom you employee are the most important to the well-being of the dental office. Happy employees make for happy patients! So, over the years, I have developed a very non-business-like methodology in finding and hiring employees. Its called waiting. Yes, I wait patiently for the right person to show up. I know it sounds crazy, but most of the time it works. So, below I will introduce to you my current team of great people, whom I metaphorically call My Five Wives:
I discovered Rita on the sideline of a soccer field. Go figure. Her daughter and mine played on the same soccer team. Rita is from the famous Castillo family of Friendswood, as some of you may know, of the La Casita Mexican Restaurant in Friendswood. So you see, because I am her boss, I get special treatment at La Casita. I digress. As I began to know the Dickens, I found out she was a hygienist. After a year or so, I asked her on the soccer field if she would like to come and work for me. She said, Ill think about it. She did think about it and accepted. Now she has been a hygienist, office manager, and Bleaching Queen for over 20 years now. She has one passion besides working for me, and that would be her grandchildren.
As the senior member of the staff, Chris and I go way back to 1991. This is the year I started teaching at the General Practice Residency at Herman Hospital. At that time, Chris was the office manager of the residency program. Her title was El General. So, when I found out she was retiring, I asked her to come work for me and she said, Ill think about it. She did think about it for a long time, but she accepted, and now she has been part of the team since 2005.
Betty is my chairside assistant. Those of you who spend time in my chair will see a whole lot of Betty. Betty joined our office in 2013, when we were going through a transition in dental assistants. A friend of hers had heard we were hiring, and she walked in one day and asked us if she could apply. After a working interview, we were impressed. I asked her if she would like to be a part of my team, and she said, Ill think about it. And a day or so later, she accepted the offer!
Julie was also introduced to our office as a temporary hygienist to work in our practice while others were on vacation. She was one of our temporaries for 2 years. The first time I heard Julie laugh, I knew she was the one. When a position opened up, we immediately asked her if she wanted to work with us. She answered, Ill think about it. After a while, she accepted and has been here ever since 2013.
Clarissas story is interesting. She was working full-time at Dillards in the cosmetic department. One evening after work, while purchasing some eyeliner, I asked this young lady if she could help me and you really dont think that I would be shopping for make-up, do you? Really?! I became aware of Clarissa through her future mother-in-law, who is the owner of Phoenix Cleaners, who I use to prepare scrubs for the office. She had been a dental assistant, and when she found out I was a dentist, she told me about Clarissa and her goal to become a dental hygienist. So, we asked Clarissa to come to the office for a working interview. We liked what we saw, and I asked her if she wanted to come work part-time with us. She said, Ill think about it. After a couple of days, she said she would. At first, she was part-time, and then one day, she came to me and asked me if she could work full-time, and I said, Ill think about it. So, for the last three years, she has been learning all aspects of dentistry as she prepares herself to enter the practice of dental hygiene.
Alycia was first introduced to our office as a patient. Her family had just moved to Texas from Oregon. Again, she came into the office to see us every 6 months. We began to know her life story. Also, I discovered that she had been in dentistry for about 15 years. We also discovered that she was not in dentistry since moving to Texas, and she was not happy where she was working. So, I asked her if she would like to work with us, and she said (you sure guessed it!), Ill think about it. After a day or so, she accepted the offer and has been with us for almost 2 years.
So that is the story of My Five Wives. These ladies spend more time with me than they do with their husbands and/or boyfriends. I can promise you that spending 35+ hours a week with me makes them appreciate their spouse so much more!