03/22/2026
This was a chapter of my career I’ll always carry with me.
Working with Oral Health Impact Project meant bringing dentistry directly into schools. Everything was portable, set up inside classrooms.
I was assigned inner city schools in Baltimore with one assistant and a full schedule of kids ages 4 to 18. We did everything on site. Fillings, extractions, stainless steel crowns, even baby root canals.
The equipment was heavy and the days were long, but the mission was simple. Meet kids where they are and take care of what needs to be done.
Sometimes we stayed in the same school for days, leaving our setup so we could keep going.
This is also where everything shifted for me.
I started noticing impactions and crossbites, and many referrals were not being followed up. Not because parents did not care, but because life made it hard.
That is when I realized access to care is not just about providing treatment. It is about making it realistic.
One moment I will never forget.
A mom rushed in and asked, “Who is the dentist?”
She hugged me and said,
“How did you do fillings on my baby girl without sedation? Every other place told me she had to be put under.”
I told her I did not use sedation. Just behavioral guidance and distraction techniques.
That moment stayed with me.
This experience shaped how I practice today. More awareness. More compassion. A deeper understanding of what access to care really means.
