Dr. Erin Arnold

Orthodontist, DMD, MS

I like to consider myself a tooth engineer

I’ve always enjoyed and had an aptitude for math and science. I come from a family of engineers, scientists, and accountants, but not dentists! I completed high school in Clear Lake, a suburb of Houston. I followed the footsteps of most men in my family and went to Georgia Tech (GT) for undergrad in Atlanta, GA. I thought GT could use a few more women! Although dentistry was on my list of potential careers, at that time GT did not offer any medical education paths. It was engineering or management, you pick. So, I graduated with an Industrial Engineering (IE) degree and got a job! I worked as an IE for 6 years with Ernst and Young and at Home Depot’s corporate headquarters.

There was a time when I could tell you how many labor hours it required to unload a semi at a medium volume Home Depot. After a while, I realized that although I didn’t mind working the long hours, I wasn’t passionate about Home Depot’s stock price. If I were going to have a career that demanded time away from my future family, it needed to be something I cared about. I gained a lot from my time in corporate America, but the best thing I left with was my smart and talented husband, Brett. There’s a chance he was my boss at some point in my career, but you’ll have to bribe me with chocolate in order to hear that story! So… with Brett’s support, I revisited my dreams and headed back to school. For EIGHT more years!

I attended dental school in Augusta, GA at the Medical College of Georgia. We had our first son, Charlie, the week I graduated from dental school. Another crazy story! I was lucky enough to match at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston for my orthodontic residency. Three years later, upon graduation, we decided to move back to Texas to be closer to family. We arrived in Austin, without a home, 2 weeks before our second son, Ben, was born. We like to live on the edge, you know. Seriously, though, as Brett and I embarked on the dental journey it seemed as though every door opened for us. There are numerous examples of how our lives just fell into place despite these big, scary, changes.

The bottom line is this, I just LOVE orthodontics and feel like I am where I was meant to be. I love that we really get know our patients since we see them regularly over a few years. I 100% believe in the power of a smile to brighten someone else’s day which can brighten the world. Giving people, adults and adolescents alike, the confidence to smile unabashedly is just unbeatable.

Education

Georgia Institute of Technology - BS in ISyE

Medical College of Georgia - Doctorate of Medical Dentistry

Medical University of South Carolina – MS and Certificate of Orthodontics