In this introductory video, Dr. Bill Hang shares his personal and professional journey from a small‑town teenager who wanted to be a doctor to a renowned orthodontist and educator. He explains how early exposure to hands‑on work (wood carving, scouting) led him to dentistry, and how practical experience reshaped his clinical philosophy. Rejecting blind adherence to traditional teachings, he adopted a forward‑development approach that emphasizes jaw and facial balance, healthier joints, wider airways, and aesthetic improvement. He describes the growth of his practice—from a rural clinic to a thriving Los Angeles‑area office that attracts patients from far away—and his passion for teaching, hosting intensive weekend courses for 20‑25 dentists and orthodontists worldwide. Throughout, he highlights the positive feedback from patients and parents that reinforced his methods, and invites viewers to watch a follow‑up video detailing his unique treatment techniques.
Chapters
By the time I was 15 years old, I thought I wanted to be a doctor. But the physicians in the small town where I grew up spent all their time working, and it was apparent to me that most of them did not have a life. I didn't want that. At the time, I was doing a lot of wood carving as I worked toward my Eagle Scout Award. The carving made me realize how much I loved working with my hands. Dentistry involved handwork, and the dentists in my town seemed to have lives. So I decided to become a dentist. Today I spend almost all of my time practicing and teaching orthodontics. Some would say now I don't have a life, but frankly, I love it. Hi, I'm Bill Hang. I've always loved learning and teaching. What I didn't understand as a 27-year-old assistant professor of orthodontics was that there is no substitute for practical experience. In the early part of my career, I was willing to do exactly what I had been taught and nothing else. But that slowly started to change when I began to look critically at the faces of the children I'd treated. I started to see things I hadn't noticed before: long faces, weak chins, flat cheeks, recessed and dished-in profiles, gummy smiles. I soon realized that there were a few other doctors who had gone before me that had come to some of the same conclusions. But they were a bit ahead of me in finding solutions, so I sought them out and began to learn from them. Slowly, I began to see that there were methods of practicing orthotics that seemed to make much more sense than those that I'd so blindly accepted as a naive young student. At first, it was very scary to do things that ran contrary to what my professors had told me must be done. But I did it anyway because the ideas I'd been shown by my new mentors made sense to me. There were 2 things that kept me moving forward in those days. First was the improved facial balance I was seeing in my patients, and second was the incredibly positive feedback I was hearing from their parents. As time went on, I found that the more willing I was to trust my practical experience, the more convinced I became that the road I was traveling was the right one for me. I really knew I was right on track when my small-town practice flourished, and people began to travel distances to see me. By the time 1996 rolled around, my wife Debbie and I decided we would move to a major city. That year, we opened a new practice outside of Los Angeles, and I started teaching again. Today, I spend most of my time with patients and parents from my community. I love practicing orthotics now more than I ever have. But I'm also passionate about passing on what I've learned. 4 weekends a year, 20 to 25 dentists and orthodontists from around the world come to Los Angeles to learn about how I practice. It's humbling to have them here. They're very able, dedicated, and passionate about helping their own patients. They ask tough questions and want to see proof of what I'm saying. They keep me on my toes. Every year one of them comes up to me after the first class and says, I can't look at people and faces the same way anymore. I have to change the way I'm practicing. I totally understand because I used to feel the same way. But I found a method of practicing that focuses on forward development of the jaws and teeth. I know it's the right thing to do for all of my patients, whether it's a teenager getting ready for the prom, a young child whose parents want a stronger profile, healthier jaw joints, and a wider airway, or an adult who wants to reverse the outcome of previous orthodontic treatment. So, now you know who I am and how I got here. If you haven't watched it already, I encourage you to take a look at the What Makes Us Different video next. It will show you the approaches I use in treating my patients and will help you prepare for your personal consultation. Thanks for watching!
