Changing Lives

Brig. Gen. Shan K. Bagby, a native of Newark, is chief of the U.S. Army Dental Corps and its first African-American Army dental officer to be promoted to brigadier general. In one sense it was uneventful. But in another, a trip to the neighborhood health clinic helped shaped the course of his life. Shan K…. Read more »

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Lisa Weller didn’t smile big very often. It’s wasn’t that she’s not happy, it was something else. “Things like parent teacher conferences, I sit down with the teacher and I don’t want the teacher to judge my kid based on how my teeth look,” Wells said. “If I can’t take care… Read more »

Dr. Gary Parker first volunteered aboard a Mercy Ships hospital ship thinking it would be a three-month journey. However, three months turned into 31 years, and Gary and his wife Susan, who he met on board, have devoted their lives to help those living without access to safe, timely and affordable surgical care. Read full… Read more »

Gregory Arriaga is hoping to smile again. And dental surgeon Robert Ioppolo and partner Justin Bonner are attempting to make that happen with a free surgery that ordinarily would cost in excess of $50,000. Read full article

When a 9-year-old boy with a fast-growing tumor needed help immediately, and a group of Good Samaritans stepped in to provide life-saving surgery. Jean Olivier needed help he couldn’t get in his native Haiti, and his father was at the end of his bank account. Read full article

Joining the military was always in Charles Martin’s plans. He graduated in the late 1960s around the time the U.S. military began conducting a draft to call eligible men to serve. The call from the U.S. Army came shortly after Martin began the process of committing himself to the U.S. Air Force, he recalled during… Read more »

For Valerie Accetta, MFA, head of Musical Theatre and assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Department of Theatre, wear and tear from 15 years of singing, chewing and conversation caused the cartilage in her jaw to completely deteriorate. By spring of 2016, a simple task like eating a slice of pizza was… Read more »

A recent Hornbeck High School graduate has found her way through 19 surgeries, since birth, has managed to successfully complete high school, and earn scholarships. She is headed to college in the fall to pursue a career in the medical field. Read full article

The University of Maryland School of Dentistry brings together professional football players, Baltimore student athletes, and an entrepreneurial alumnus to show how mouth guards help avoid facial injuries. Read full article

A family dentist recommends a teen patient visit an oral and maxillofacial surgeon (OMS) for removal of his wisdom teeth. But what if he’s not experiencing any problems with the teeth right now? Read Full Article