Like most doctors this past March, Dr. Joel Collins knew he’d have to take things one day at a time. What he didn’t realize was just how vital his practice, Conyers Smiles Dentistry and Orthodontics, would be to the community.  While dental practices across the country closed ... Read more

The number of uninsured Americans has steadily climbed since the COVID-19 pandemic began driving job loss — and thus employer-sponsored insurance — for many people. And a shortage of health professionals is compounding the problem in Virginia. As executive director of the Virginia He ... Read more

Tom Holt has worked on health policy in Oregon wearing various hats for more than 20 years, but his first foray into oral health started only recently. Last year, Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) hired Holt as a consultant to improve dental health initiatives statewide, and that meant interview ... Read more

After 20 years in private practice as a dental hygienist, Karen Raposa went back to school to earn her MBA. As she was completing her degree, her youngest child was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder — a discovery that fundamentally changed both her personal and professional life ... Read more

When Oregon restructured its school system around seven years ago, George Mendoza was charged with aligning different segments — early learning, K-12 and higher education — to ensure children were prepared at every stage of schooling. He worked with teams to decide what indicators ma ... Read more

Like so many doctors in this country, Sandra Garbely graduated school with a lot of student debt. Nearly 30 years ago, she joined the National Health Service Corps to help pay back her student loans — a decision that launched her career in public service. After years with a federally ... Read more

Dr. Sridevi Ponnala has served as dental director at Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center in the Bay Area of California for the last 10 years. Educated and trained as a dentist in India, Ponnala earned her second DDS degree from UCSF in 2004 to be able to practice here and has been on a mission since ... Read more

Like many Philadelphians, Dr. Janine Burkhardt uses the city’s subway system to get to work. But her time isn’t spent commuting — it’s spent providing dental care to individuals experiencing homelessness at the Hub of Hope, a clinic located under Philadelphia’s ... Read more

Molly Johnson is working with a team of community partners to improve oral health outcomes in Oregon’s Lincoln County, a region isolated — both geographically and in terms of access to medical care — along the state’s coast. As Director of Medicaid Services for Ad ... Read more

Robin Vann is the national programs manager at America’s ToothFairy, which in a lot of ways makes her a real-life version of the actual tooth fairy. Going on seven years with the organization, Vann works with nonprofit clinics across the country that provide low- and no-cost services to un ... Read more