Most dentists didn't enter the field just because they liked working on people's teeth, but rather to create positive changes in their community's health and overall well-being.
Below is a list of the dentists who launched efforts to better their communities this summer, as reported by Becker's Hospital Review.
- New Orleans dentist Bristol Williams, DDS, used her own money to hold a voter registration drive for her community.
- Kentucky dentist Suzanne Spencer, DMD, opened a temporary learning space for her employees' children as they begin a new remote learning school year.
- California pediatric dentist Kami Hoss, DDS, wrote a book and songs to ease patient fears amid the pandemic.
- Georgia dentist Heavenly Kimes, DDS, performed free oral surgery for Miracle Boyd, an 18-year-old activist whose front teeth fell out after she was struck in the face by a Chicago police officer during a protest.
- California dentist Donald Montano, DDS, will ride his bike 3,400 miles across the U.S. starting Sept. 12 to raise money for a nonprofit organization that helps increase dental care access among children and young adults.
- Chicago dentist Ogbonna Bowden, DDS, rolled out a mobile dentistry service that provides children on the city's South Side with free exams, screenings and cleanings.
- Praveen Arany, DDS, led a team from the University at Buffalo's School of Dental Medicine in using 3D printers to supply local dentists with face shields as they struggled to procure sufficient personal protective equipment.
- Guy Gross, DDS, and Kate Gross, DDS, encouraged local high school and college students to apply for a scholarship to the Leadership and Educational Advancement Program Week through their Kansas dental practice's scholarship fund.
- New Hampshire dentist Peter Arsenault, DMD, donated his emerging surgical mask company's entire stock to front-line workers.
- C.J. Henley, DMD, hired a teacher to instruct his staff's children four days a week at his Jacksonville, Fla.-based practice.
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