F EB RUARY 2 022
Volume 35 • Issue 1
Still a Ways to Go Latest NIH report details disappointing progress in improving oral health in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
NEWS
Looking for a Winner New York State Dental Foundation wants to reward outstanding children’s dental health program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
NYSDA Loses Groundbreaker Dr. John Scullin made support for troubled dentists an Association mission . . . . . 10
AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NEW YORK STATE DENTAL ASSOCIATION
Briana Byrnes meets with patient Dana Brighton, beneficiary of Dr. Byrnes’s generous donation of dental work, borne out of a desire to give back to the community.
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Troy dentist Briana Byrnes: “People will only care what you know when they know how much you care.”
Meet Briana Byrnes Troy dentist driven by desire to help others.
n a recent article about Briana Byrnes, D.M.D., the writer described her as a “socially conscious dentist.” It’s an apt description for the Troy practitioner, who only recently acquired her practice from her employer and mentor, Jeffrey Adams, D.D.S., and has already used it to further her desire to empower women.
Toward the end of last year, Dr. Byrnes began treating a 41-year-old woman whose past history included being a runaway teen, battered woman, homeless person and heroin addict. Now in recovery, employed full time and housed in her own apartment, she wished she could have her much-neglected teeth fixed so she could feel better about herself and her appearance. Enter Dr. Byrnes, who found the woman when she contacted the Troy YWCA and explained she wanted to donate dental work to a woman in need. That donation amounted to $25,000 of dental work—extractions, bone grafting, dental implants, crowns and cosmetic dentistry—provided free-of-charge to one very grateful woman. CAREER TRAJECTORY
Briana Byrnes grew up in a racially diverse neighborhood in Maplewood, NJ. Her mother, who emigrated from Guyana, worked as a nurse, and her father was a construction manager. She received her dental degree CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
