10 Under 10: Improv skills prepare California oral surgeon to think on her feet

Life throws curve balls every day. As such, someone practicing oral surgery needs to be ever ready for the unexpected. Even with treatment plans and surgical checklists, improvisational skills surely can come in handy.

Sapna Lohiya, D.D.S., got a bit of extra practice in improvisation while coming of age in Orange County, California. Back then, she acted in local theaters, school plays and improv clubs. The experience yielded ongoing lessons.

“Improv teaches you to think on your feet and be prepared for whatever comes your way,” Dr. Lohiya said. “It also lets you find humor in situations and allows you to have a more balanced perspective.”

She had other interests where the improv background may have been a strong underpinning.

“At some point I wanted to do broadcast journalism,” she said. “I liked the idea of being able to share knowledge with people. But, as I got older, I realized I could take those lessons that I learned and transition them into really any career that I wanted.”

Dr. Lohiya eventually chose dentistry, graduating from the University of California Los Angeles School of Dentistry in 2013. She completed an oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at the University of Washington in Seattle and earned board certification as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon.

These days, Dr. Lohiya is a partner at a three-surgeon oral surgery group in West Los Angeles with locations in Hermosa Beach, Westchester and Culver City. Her remarkable track record in dentistry thus far earned her recognition as a 2023 ADA 10 Under 10 Award winner. That track record encompasses — along with other honors — earning the Top Dentist Award in 2021-23 from Los Angeles Magazine and the Southern California Super Doctors “Rising Star” Award in 2021-23.

 

The variables that played a role in her pursuit of dentistry and the specialty of oral surgery included early exposure to health care careers.

“Growing up in a family of physicians, I came to understand the importance of health and wellness at a pretty young age,” she said. “I would spend summers working at my parents’ medical office. Growing up, I was already interested in health care and the idea of helping people become healthier versions of themselves.”

Participation in a week-long medical/dental mission trip to Panama when she was an undergraduate student at UCLA captivated Dr. Lohiya. She remembers being consistently drawn to the dental side of the clinic.

“I watched these underserved patients who didn’t have access to care walk in with these long-standing infections or acute pain and then quickly see their quality of life improve with an extraction or some other dental intervention,” she said. “That was probably the pivoting point of when I decided to apply to dental school.”

Before heading to dental school, Dr. Lohiya earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in anthropology at UCLA. Studying anthropology was an intriguing way to learn more about people, human culture and society, she said.

“Similar to improv theater, I thought that having a background in understanding people and how we interact with each other could help me in all aspects of my life, personal and professional,” Dr. Lohiya said. “UCLA is one of the few schools where the anthropology department is based in a museum on campus. You’re actually taking courses within the walls of a museum, which is pretty unique. Anthropology has multiple subfields, and one of those is biological anthropology, so there was already a focus on science.”

 

The transition to studying dentistry was fairly straightforward after that, she said.

“I also spent a lot of time in college doing medical research and volunteering at local clinics and hospitals,” Dr. Lohiya said. “I always had one foot in the science/medical/health care side of things.”

Once in dental school, she continued exploring outside the classroom, trying to determine what she wanted to emphasize someday in her career. She gravitated toward the surgical side.

“I spent time shadowing different specialties and kept falling into oral and maxillofacial surgery,” she said. “It ended up becoming a calling that I couldn’t resist. That was something that was probably a little more challenging but ended up being one of the best decisions I made. The field of oral and maxillofacial surgery is currently less than 10% female and so making the decision to pursue this path was one that was questioned by some of my peers and colleagues. But I was lucky. I matched in Seattle at the University of Washington for surgery residency, and that was just a tremendous opportunity and wonderful place to train.”

Dr. Lohiya advocates for women entering the surgical side of dentistry. She is the founding president of Women in Dentistry South Bay Chapter.

“My women in dentistry group is essentially a local study club chapter that I created to empower my female dental colleagues to collaborate with each other, learn from each other and stay connected with female dentists in the community,” she said.

 

“I am really passionate though about trying to mentor dental students and help to narrow this gender discrepancy within my specialty,” Dr. Lohiya said. “I think the way I’ve been primarily doing that is through my work at UCLA, by teaching. I’m currently volunteer faculty for the school’s Community-Based Clinical Education program.

“This program not only enhances the students’ education experience but also increases access to care for the underserved population in Los Angeles. I’m also positioned in that role to help introduce more female dental students to the field of oral surgery and, hopefully, provide mentorship to inspire more women to get into the field.”

Aside from her private practice and volunteer teaching, Dr. Lohiya is active in local organized dentistry and serves as president-elect of the Western Los Angeles Dental Society. She enjoys outdoor recreation with her husband, and they are new parents.

“My husband and I welcomed a baby girl in January, so we’ve been spending time enjoying this transition to parenthood,” she said. “We like to hike with our dog, play tennis, explore new restaurants. We like to be active and outside as much as we can.”