Dr. Anastasia Pre-Dental and Dental Student Scholarship

I am a second-year dental student at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. When I was 9 years old I decided that I would one day become a dentist simply because of how much I enjoyed visiting my pediatric dentist. My shadowing experiences throughout college helped me to see how diverse and intimate dentistry is. Not only do I get to interact with people from such different backgrounds, but I also have the opportunity to impact each individual uniquely. Whether I am alleviating pain that's been stopping them from enjoying their favorite meal, altering their smile to make them feel the confidence they've always dreamed of, or detecting a finding in their oral cavity that leads to the diagnosis of an underlying condition, I will be able to say that I positively changed the trajectory of a person's life in some way. Throughout my lifetime, I have found that a healthy and beautiful smile can play a major role in the way in which individuals perceive themselves. During the summer of 2017, I was able to serve as a dental assistant at the Remote Area Medical Clinic that serves individuals living in rural areas in which proper healthcare is not as easily accessible as it is for suburban and urban populations. I saw this experience as one of my most impactful acts of service because it was there that my passion for restoring and producing healthy smiles took shape. Simply seeing how much of an impact my team’s compassion and expertise had on the patients’ confidence levels further solidified my desire to become a dentist. Essentially, I will be able to transform the lives of very diverse individuals by mending dental issues that can affect both their physical and mental health.