1/17/08

According to an article in The Arizona Republic, Tyler Robison, DDS, an orthodontist with offices in a Gilbert and Mesa, Ariz, will be spending the next 3 months at Mississippi’s Camp Shelby doing dental work on thousands of soldiers headed to Iraq.

Robison, an Army Reserve major, learned a month ago he’d been ordered to report to Mississippi. "It was my turn to go, my chance to go," he said.

Robison said he won’t see any combat and cannot have his stay lengthened. Two of his orthodontist friends will take care of patients while he’s gone. The men have practices of their own, but will take on extra hours to ensure Robison’s stay is up-and-running, he said. In return, Robison said he plans to pay the orthodontists hourly wages.

Robison’s wife, Kristen, usually a stay-at-home mom, will also start helping out at the offices. "We just need to keep charting patients and letting people know that he’s gonna be back," she said.

 "It’ll be a challenge," Tyler Robison said about staying financially afloat. "I’m sure we’ll get through it."

As difficult as running a business from more than 1,000 miles away may be, Tyler Robison said leaving his family will be even harder. And his wife agrees.

"He’s my best friend," she said. "I will just miss him more than anything in the world. … Sometimes I wish he wasn’t so dang patriotic."