Young Professionals 2 Follow: Dr. Jewel Pompey Dorsey helps create healthy smiles

Jul. 17—Her specialty focuses on helping create healthy smiles, and positive experiences in a dental chair decades ago helped lead at least one Aiken resident — "Dr. Sparkle" — into the dental profession.

"I was a happy child. I loved to smile. I loved to see people smile," said Dr. Jewel Pompey Dorsey, confirming that she was "probably one of the few people who didn't mind going to the dentist."

Dorsey, 39, was selected as a member of the 2022 class of the Aiken Standard's Young Professionals 2 Follow.

Growing up, the future dentist was Jewel Sparkle Ann Pompey, and the family's dentist was Dr. Dorothea Taylor.

A few decades later, Taylor now works a few steps from Dorsey several days each week, as both are based at North Aiken Dental, at 1466 Columbia Highway North.

Taylor, who has been practicing since 1993, owns the practice and Dorsey, the daughter of Aubrey and Joyce Pompey, is an independent contractor under the same roof.

"She's a very Christian person, and she will go beyond doing things for other people," Taylor said, citing the example of Dorsey's roles at Ridge Hill Baptist Church, in Ridge Spring.

"She's wonderful with children," Taylor said. "I mean, when she goes to her church, in Ridge Spring, she'll go and sit with the kids and do whatever they need. She's just always giving. Most people are always taking, and she's the opposite."

One of the best aspects of the job, Dorsey said, is "the positive difference that we make in people's lives." She recalled the pleasure that comes with helping relieve pain or simply paving the way for a better smile. She said she particularly enjoys working with kids.

On the other end of the spectrum is the fact that "you want to help everybody, but you can't," she added, referring to the fact of not having unlimited time for treatment. "You try to help as many as you can."

Her formative years included graduating in 2001 from Aiken High School. She recalled, "When I got into high school, I thought about actually becoming a writer, because I also love to write. It was either writing or dentistry; and I decided to go into dentistry, because I said, 'I can't come up with something to write all the time,' so I entered the dental field."

Next came the successful pursuit of a bachelor's degree in biology at the University of South Carolina. Her final major step was graduation from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Achieving a doctorate in dentistry, however, was not her final step in higher education.

"I actually went back to school and got a masters in early childhood education ... My passion is children, so I don't know what I'm going to do with that, or where it's going to take me, but I'm just kind of learning more about treating young people," she said.

Aside from the world of gums, incisors, canines, premolars and molars, Dorsey also keeps up with large gatherings at Williams-Brice Stadium and (about 2,300 miles away) Levi's Stadium. "I enjoy watching Carolina football; but most importantly, I'm a San Francisco 49er football fan," she said.

Another favorite pursuit is dancing — salsa in particular — and Dorsey is also an enthusiastic reader. The home team includes her husband, David, and their daughter, 8-month-old Sydney Ruth. There is also a strong canine component, composed of huskies Lily and Rusty.