At a really young age, I knew that I wanted to do something with my hands. I was always really interested in art. I love painting, drawing and I also love people and have always been someone that enjoys being around people and I thought, watching my dad in the dental office, he thoroughly enjoyed what he did.
We actually have an audio recording of when I was three years old saying I was going to be my dad’s partner and 23 years later, I was. So, I’d really never wavered from wanting to be a dentist.
I think the most rewarding aspect of dentistry would be when you have someone come in, that is either fearful of the dentist or has a lot of dental problems, reassuring them and getting them through the process, laying everything out for them and them having a good experience where they know that they can trust you and seeing someone who may have multiple dental issues, multiple problems, cavities, periodontal disease and getting them to a point of good oral health.
I think the other thing that would be equally as rewarding is building the relationships with people over time. After you’ve done it long enough, you have little kids that had their first visit to the dentist, and here they are now in college or getting married and you really do get to build a lot of neat relationships with families.
I started my undergrad degree at Baylor University in 1998 and graduated from Baylor in 2002. Joined my brother at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio for dental school and finished there in 2006. Joined my dad and my brother in 2006 and then since then I’ve participated in a lot of different types of continuing education.
Early on after 2006, I attended several courses involving TMJ treatment, dysfunction and learned quite a bit there and in certainly enjoy treating TMJ problems.
I’ve taken countless hours of continuing education for aesthetics with veneers and composite veneers and enjoy that in my practice as well.
Dr. Martin Starr Followed in His Father’s Footsteps
Being raised by a father who was a dentist had a positive influence on Dr. Martin Starr’s career choice. His father, Dr. Kent, was always present in his life, whether it was coaching him in sports or enjoying family time on weekends. He saw that his father worked hard but had a very predictable schedule. From an early age, he knew he wanted a career that afforded him the same opportunity to work hard but have a great balance in life. He has also always enjoyed art, mainly drawing and painting, so he felt dentistry would be an excellent fit for using his hands and artistic ability.
After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Baylor University in 2002, Dr. Martin attended the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and received his Doctor of Dental Surgery in 2006.
Dr. Martin’s professional and civic accomplishments include:
- Award for Excellence in Clinical Dentistry (2005)
- Director of the Central Texas Dental Society
- Chairman of the Texas Mission of Mercy Waco event (2010)
- Deacon Chairman at First Baptist Church of Waco (2016)
- LEAD mentor for high school students at Waco High School (2013-present)
Dr. Martin strives to stay on time and not let his patients wait very long. His sense of humor also puts people at ease who might otherwise be nervous. His favorite part of his job is getting to meet new people, then building relationships with those patients over the years.
In his spare time, Dr. Martin coaches multiple sports for all four of his kids and enjoys playing golf.