Dr. Michael Sebastian is the founder Elite Smiles Chastain, a practice which specializes in the delivery of orthodontic excellence. A speaker, teacher, author, and orthodontic specialist since 1987, Dr. Sebastian has written, lectured, and educated thousands of dentists along with completing more than 15,000 orthodontic patients. From five-year-olds’ skeletal malformations to 76-year-olds’ crooked teeth, Dr. Sebastian has successfully corrected these and everything in between. He has developed a special interest in airway of the developing child, and is currently at the forefront in diagnosis, appliance design, and treatment. Patients have come from all over Georgia, Florida, New York, Michigan, and California, and many states in between, to be treated by Dr. Sebastian. One patient even commuted from Japan!
Dr. Sebastian is also a student of this field he loves. Along with graduating at the University of Alabama Dental School, he completed his Master’s in Science and Orthodontic Certification from the University of Washington. His master’s thesis topic was on the temporomandibular joint. As the teeth are connected to the rest of the body through this joint, he felt it was important to be thoroughly knowledgeable of the anatomy and function. His thesis was widely recognized at the time, was published, and he lectured on this topic. The University of Washington is considered to be the top orthodontic program in the world and home to two of the most renowned dental educators, Dr. Vincent Kokich and Dr. Frank Spear. Dr. Sebastian spent countless hours absorbing the knowledge of these two greats. He has also attended the Pankey Institute and Spear Institute to understand better the role of the orthodontist in treatment of complex multidisciplinary patients. Board certification is voluntary for the orthodontist. It requires many long hours of reviewing treatment results to present specific types of patients treated to a Review Board. It is not a fun process, but if your goal is to be the best you can be in our specialty, it is an invaluable learning experience. You understand better through evaluation of your successes and yes, failures, the thorough process needed to continue to improve as a practitioner. They have made the process easier over the last few years to encourage more orthodontists to participate; as a result, 25% of orthodontists are Boarded compared to 15% when he tested.
As a kid, Dr. Sebastian had many athletic fields within walking distance of his home. The neighborhood kids always congregated there and played whatever sport was in season. As he got older, football kind of chose him. He excelled at it and started to get noticed. Many college offers came his way but the opportunity to play for Coach “Bear” Bryant was his choice. He was fortunate enough to be there when Alabama was at a pinnacle. They won a National Championship in 1978. He started and lettered for that team.
The experience Dr. Sebastian likes to share from his time with Coach Bryant is this: “My sophomore year I came in for the season ready to claim a spot as a starter. I had been injured the year before and was redshirted. During preseason, I injured my knee, which cut my season short, this led to my decision to meet with Coach Bryant to basically ‘whine about my predicament.’ Coach Bryant asked me what I wanted to discuss to which I replied, “Coach Bryant, I’ve had nothing but bad luck since I’ve been here.” He then looked at me and said, “Son, I don’t believe in bad luck. I believe you make your own luck. Have you ever noticed that guy who always seems to get that lucky fumble recovery? Well, if you have watched him on the plays before and the plays after, you would notice he is busting his rear end to be in the right spot so when the opportunity happened, he was there to take advantage of it.””
This experience and the video of Coach Bryant below have become two cornerstones of his personal mission statement
Dr. Sebastian believes in giving back to our community as part of his civic responsibility. Volunteering at the Ben Massell Dental Clinic and for Smiles Changes Lives to treat financially disadvantaged kids allows him to use his orthodontic experience to help those in need. He has coached football and basketball at NYO and baseball at Buckhead. He has also taught Sunday school at Peachtree Presbyterian Church, built homes for Habitat for Humanity, and volunteered for Chastain Park.