Read TranscriptI went to college with several boys that were going to dental school. Well, I just went down and took the test with them, and when the results came back, I did better on the test than they did. They'd been studying for it, and I just took it off the cuff. I didn't come preparing for it. Then I just forgot about it, because they were ahead of me in school, so I put the results away and went for another year of college, and then took off a year and traveled all out West and everything. I was married.
I said, well, when I get back to South Carolina, I'm going to either have to get a job or go back to school. And I said I believe I'll call those boys and see how they like dental school. So I did, and they recommended that I give it a try. I got a application, and in fact, I filled the application while I was out in Montana and sent it in. They accepted me and that's how I ended up going to dental school.
Well, I went to Coker College which is a small liberal arts school about 25 miles from here and did a double major. Got a degree in biology and a degree in chemistry. And then I went to dental school at the Medical University in Charleston, and then I've been practicing general dentistry here in Florence ever since.
We take continuing education courses and all kind of different things. My role at Advanced Dental Center is to treat patients as well as I can and to make them feel comfortable, and to offer them the best dental treatment that we can provide, but we have to make decisions because of the cost of it and stuff, as far as what we going to do, because there are a lot of different ways to accomplish the same thing. That's just part of it. Getting down to deciding what role or what course of treatment we're going to use. But fortunately, we are able to offer them all sorts of different treatments.
Well, the most rewarding part of dental practice to me is the contact with people. When I applied to dental school, they asked me why I wanted to go to dental school, and I said, “Well, I love people and I enjoy working with my hands, so I thought the two would go well together.“ And it's worked out real well. I thoroughly enjoy people. That's what makes it fun.
Dr. Hal Herbert is a 1971 graduate of Coker College. Four years later, he graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina with an advanced dental degree. He was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Delta Medical Honor Society. Currently, he is a member of the American Dental Association, South Carolina Dental Association, and Pee Dee Dental Society. He is a former member of the Delta Dental Board.
Dr. Hal Herbert has been a Florence, SC dentist for nearly four decades. He does a lot of denture work and enjoys performing dental surgery and implant dentistry. He has been placing mini dental implants for eight years. Mini implants provide a way to stabilize dentures, and Dr. Hal Herbert has found that patients are much happier with their dentures when they are attached to implants.
Dr. Hal Herbert is the father of two and has three grandchildren. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and golf and is a volunteer for National Children’s Dental Health Month.