Dustin Burleson, with Smiles Change Lives, answers The Pitch‘s questionnaire

Name: Dustin Burleson

Occupation: Speaker, teacher, author and orthodontic specialist

Hometown: Portsmouth, Ohio

Current neighborhood: Union Hill

What I do (in 140 characters): Help patients achieve healthy, happy smiles and proper tooth and jaw alignment.

What’s your addiction? Reading

What’s your game? Tennis

What’s your drink? Black coffee. I’d take it in an IV most mornings if I could.

Where’s dinner? Too many great options to list here. I’m a huge fan of many KC restaurants, including the Rieger, Port Fonda, Grünauer, Anton’s, the Farmhouse, Novel, Westside Local, Blue Bird Bistro, Carmen’s, Voltaire, La Cucina di Mamma, Bluestem, and the list could continue for days. Kansas City has a lot to be proud of in its dining scene.

What’s on your KC postcard? A lot of the standard classics, like the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Union Station, the Plaza lights, Crown Center and the Mayor’s Christmas tree, Kauffman Stadium, Arthur Bryant’s, UMKC Volker Campus and the Liberty Memorial.

Finish this sentence: “Kansas City got it right when …” It embraced the idea of a vibrant urban core and downtown renaissance.

“Kansas City screwed up when …” It missed out on the opportunity to “crack the code” and successfully resolve the school-board desegregation case in the 1980s and 1990s that spanned three decades and cost millions of dollars without significant results for our students in the district. I’m optimistic, however, that our current city and school leaders are working together to make continued progress, as we just recently regained provisional accreditation status. That was great news to read about.

“Kansas City needs …” More young leaders to step up with an interest in civic progress and more mentors to raise their hands and take on these future leaders, teaching them the history and progress that we’ve made so that we can continue our success as a city.

“In five years, I’ll be …” The father of teenagers, wondering if I did enough when they were younger to help develop their character and support their dreams. By then, I won’t be “cool” anymore, so I better get in all of the hand-holding and hugs that I can right now before they grow up and realize that their dad is a dork.

“I always laugh at …” Myself when I realize I consistently wear my pants a little higher each year. There must be something about growing older and the fear that your belly might hang over your belt by a smidgen. It’s so much easier to just hike up the belt a little bit. See the previous comment about being a dorky dad. It’s already in the making.

“I’ve been known to binge-watch …” Jerry Seinfeld in both his classic sitcom and his more recent Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

“I can’t stop listening to …” Old J.J. Cale albums right now for some reason. Bill Shapiro turned me on to him after a recent Cyprus Avenue episode on KCUR 89.3, and it’s been stuck in my head ever since.

“I just read …” The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick, All in Startup by local senior Kauffman fellow Diana Kander, and Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler for a project we have coming up with the Disney Institute.

The best advice I ever got: “Don’t worry too much about what other people think about you. Chances are, they’re not thinking about you at all. Worry about the person looking you in the mirror each morning and what you’re doing to be true to yourself.”

Worst advice: “Run a lot so you don’t have to worry about what you eat.” I’ve discovered I have to run and watch what I eat if I want to be around for my kids’ graduation.

My sidekick: Parker, the most energetic Australian shepherd I’ve ever met and my running buddy.

My dating triumph/tragedy: Every attempt through college was a near tragedy because I was so focused on school, sports, work or anything other than girls. I’m amazed any of them gave me the time of day.

My brush with fame: I’ve driven through Hollywood. Does that count?

My 140-character soapbox: I suppose I would encourage more people to put down the social media for a minute and truly connect with someone right in front of them.

What was the last thing you had to apologize for? I routinely apologize to patients and their parents when their braces don’t come off on time. I remember having braces and how excited I was to have them removed, so it is genuinely disappointing to me when we keep someone in braces a little bit longer in order to make things perfect. I’m beyond Type A and a perfectionist — hey, I put things in a straight line for a living; this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone — so it’s hard for me to ever stop tinkering and trying to make things better. When I wear someone out and they are completely “done” with the braces process, I have to reboot my mindset, sit down with the patient and parent and say the three hardest words for any doctor to say: “I am sorry.”

Who’s sorry now? Still me. Catholic guilt, I guess.

My recent triumph: Teaming up with Smiles Change Lives to help more Kansas City–area kids, who desperately need but cannot afford orthodontic treatment, receive braces and a new outlook on life through a confident smile. Partnering with Smiles Change Lives has been one of the major triumphs of my career.