Ally Chen

Alum is All Smiles in
Rewarding Career as Dentist

An informal chat in Cambodia led Sandia Prep alum Alexandria “Ally” Chen ’10 to an entirely different career path.

She was working as a pharmacy technician and had traveled to Cambodia to volunteer on a medical mission. “On the walk back to the hotel, I had a casual conversation with an oral surgeon from California,” Ally says. “He followed up with me for a few months after the trip.”

Ally later accompanied the surgeon to Peru on another mission, this one to work with cleft palate patients. That experience had a profound impact on her. “It was after this trip that I full-heartedly dedicated my life toward becoming a dentist,” she explains.

Peru opened her eyes to the possibilities that dentistry can offer. Most of the patients were young and had had multiple prior surgeries. “Many of the patients left with their parents before being seen for a post-operative check the day after the procedure because the parents probably needed to return home to continue to earn a living,” she explains.

Today, Ally is an associate dentist at Affordable Dentures and Implants in Albuquerque, helping to restore patients’ smiles with denture prosthetics and/or implants. She also works part-time performing exams on veterans. 

“I love helping people overcome their fears of dentists and helping them achieve beautiful smiles,” Ally says of her career. “I love educating people about their oral health and giving them the knowledge to decide what is best for them.”

The work is also challenging. “I am tasked with caring for a vulnerable set of patients who haven’t seen the dentist in many years and often have fears associated with their dental health,” she explains.

Ally graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Biology. She graduated from Creighton University with her DDS in 2020. 

In addition to working as a certified pharmacy technician, Ally worked as a lab assistant at the University of New Mexico’s Department of Neurology, as a medical scribe, educating people on the health exchange, and as a general dentist. She also worked at her brother’s sandwich shop in college and her family’s restaurant, Ally’s Chinese Food on Juan Tabo, a local favorite for more than 40 years.

She also has participated in medical missions to Nepal and the Dominican Republic.

A Prep “lifer” who started in sixth grade, Ally’s interest in the sciences was solidified in former Science Department Chair John Suding’s physics class. “His class was so interactive and fun with the plethora of experiments that we conducted,” she recalls. “I remember the time when he had the class hold hands, and electric shock was transferred from one person to another to be released at the end of the link.”

Although she didn’t specifically choose dentistry until after earning her degree at UNM, “I now understand that many components of dentistry and physics are fundamentally interwoven,” she adds.

While at Prep, this Lion was a volleyball player, Outdoor Leadership Program (OLP) Camping Associate (CA), and a member of the National Honor Society (NHS.) She also was the only girl on the JV Boys Golf Team before Prep had a girl's team. Some of her other favorite classes at Prep were science, English, and French.

When she’s not working, Ally enjoys visiting national monuments, pickup volleyball, golf, reading, cooking, and driving fast. She also enjoys traveling to Taiwan, where her parents emigrated from.

“I think it’s important to break out of the norm and to catch some fresh air somewhere else,” she says.

Her foundation at Prep has served her well. “I am grateful for the safe learning environment that Prep provided for me,” Ally says. “I learned important leadership skills and developed an appreciation for trying new things and keeping an open mind as I traverse through life.”