21 February 2025

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Restoring a Veteran's Smile

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For awhile there, Gregory Johnson didn’t have much interest in smiling.

A proud veteran of the U.S. Air Force, the New Orleans native fell on hard times beginning in 2019, when he lost his job in the service industry, and the ensuing pandemic stifled his chances for a quick rebound.

Unable to pay his bills or rent, Johnson was evicted and forced onto the streets, which stripped him of stability and led him to question his own self-worth.

“I got hit pretty hard and didn’t know how I was going to recover,” Johnson says.

In January 2024, Johnson found support at the Union Rescue Mission (URM) on Los Angeles’ Skid Row. Founded in 1891, the city’s oldest mission — and one of the nation’s largest — URM aims to help individuals like Johnson escape the streets, offering food, shelter and education alongside counseling and long-term recovery programs. Johnson found a supportive, encouraging environment at URM and something else completely unexpected — a dental clinic.

“A real blessing in disguise,” the 58-year-old says.

Providing a Vital Service

Since 1999, the USC Dental Clinic at Union Rescue Mission — staffed by Ostrow faculty and students — has provided emergency and comprehensive dental services to URM residents and other Angelenos experiencing homelessness, including many military veterans like Johnson.

The eight-chair dental clinic conducts more than 5,000 dental-care visits per year, providing cleanings, restorations, extractions, root canals and dentures to URM guests as well as those from neighboring shelters and programs serving underserved people in Downtown L.A.

“Many of the individuals we see need a lot of dental work because of delayed care, so this clinic provides a vital service,” says Clinical Assistant Professor of Dentistry Melina Minassian Grigorian DDS ’04, who first began volunteering at the URM-based clinic in 2011 and currently works at the site 3-4 days each week.

Grigorian says the clinic rarely turns patients away and delivers much-needed care alongside preventive counseling and guidance, particularly around nutrition.

“It’s fulfilling that we can help virtually anyone who walks in our doors,” Grigorian says, adding that she has personally provided treatment to numerous military veterans who have fallen on tough times. “We see so many people walk out smiling and happy, which is a wonderful reward with this work.”

Notably, the clinic expands the education of dental students by involving them in the care of an often-overlooked population. Every Ostrow student completes a seven-week (one-day-a-week) rotation at the URM site, which Grigorian considers critical to their growth as well-rounded providers. The rotation experience at URM prompts new perspectives, cultivates empathy and sharpens students’ communication skills.

Most students haven’t seen the population pool the mission serves, so they develop gratitude and compassion in this environment and learn to see the bigger picture,” Grigorian says. “Those are all valuable traits as they prepare to head into practice.”

Things are Looking Up

For Johnson, who hadn’t visited a dentist in well over a decade, years of neglected oral care showed in his mouth — even if he didn’t have any immediately pressing issues. He says clinic staff, from the instructors to the students, were polite, thoughtful, professional and attentive as they patiently guided him through his treatment plan and procedures, which included upper dentures and lower partials.

“To have this available to me was a tremendous help and very impactful,” he says. “It’s helped me avoid bigger dental problems down the line.”

The care Johnson received at the dental clinic has contributed to his personal renewal. The Air Force veteran has returned to the job market and is on pace to soon trade his transitional housing at URM for a more permanent place of his own.

“Things are looking up,” he says, “and I’m definitely enjoying my smile now.”

Author: Daniel P. Smith 

Source: https://dentistry.usc.edu/