{"id":212925,"date":"2023-06-21T08:00:54","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/?p=212925"},"modified":"2023-06-20T15:21:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T19:21:06","slug":"making-sure-every-child-has-a-reason-to-smile-brilliantly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/2023\/06\/21\/making-sure-every-child-has-a-reason-to-smile-brilliantly\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Sure Every Child Has a Reason to Smile \u2013 Brilliantly!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Suffiyah Webb \u201904 DDS, MPH never doubted that her future career would have a health care focus. As far back as her days at Newark\u2019s Chad High School, she was on the pre-med track, even participating in SMART (Science Medicine and Related Topics), a pre-college program at New Jersey Medical School. She was readily accepted to multiple combined Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degree programs, but Montclair\u2019s eight-year Health Careers Program stood out to her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had an older cousin who went to Montclair, and visited her there pretty often,\u201d Webb says. \u201cShe was such a role model for me. Being on the Montclair campus felt like an adventure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But the transition to college held special challenges for Webb, who had lost her parents just two years before. \u201cThis was the first big thing I did without my parents by my side,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt was just too much.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Webb changed course from the eight-year combined program to a four-year Bachelor of Science in Biology. She finished her honors classes and planned to take a more traditional route to medical school.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The traditional route, however, took an interesting turn.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a junior at Montclair, I learned about a medical trip to Guatemala,\u201d Webb says. \u201cI thought it would be a great opportunity to shadow my mentor, who was an obstetrical\/gynecological doctor.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut my mentor was not fluent in Spanish,\u201d Webb continues. \u201cAs a result, the trip organizers decided to pair me with a woman dentist who did not need a translator. I worked as her assistant, and I fell in love with dentistry!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Webb continued her education at Howard University, earning a doctorate of dental surgery in 2009, and she completed her <\/span>general practice residency at Newark Beth Israel in 2010<\/span>. After her first year of work, she returned to Howard University to specialize<\/span>\u00a0in Pediatric Dentistry and completed her certification in 2013. She also completed her Master of Public Health in 2013 from UMDNJ with a concentration in Dental Public Health.<\/span><\/p>\n

Webb\u2019s early career included serving <\/span>as a dentist for Jewish Renaissance Medical Center, as a school dentist with Newark Public Schools and <\/span>providing pediatric dentistry services<\/span> at <\/span>Zufall Health. She traveled all over her home state to provide pediatric dentistry services. \u201cI think I got to know every inch of New Jersey during those years,\u201d she says with a laugh. \u201cIt was quite an adventure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Young patients with special needs or medical conditions require special care. \u201cIf a patient suffers from hemophilia or sickle cell anemia, I will see them in a hospital setting,\u201d she says, noting that she is an Associate Professor-Attending at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.<\/span><\/p>\n

Webb founded her own practice, Brilliant Smiles, while still crisscrossing New Jersey. In 2020, she opened her brick-and-mortar location in the heart of Newark. She also regularly visits elementary schools and pre-school Head Start programs in the city as part of her mission to educate parents about oral health, and to reduce barriers to dental care.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI see as many as 20 to 30 children on each visit,\u201d she says. \u201cEach child gets a dental report card to help parents plan for their child\u2019s care.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Prevention is a priority. \u201cMany parents don\u2019t realize that their children should see a dentist by the time they are a year old,\u201d Webb adds. \u201cChildren can\u2019t get the nutrition they need if they can\u2019t chew properly. Their overall health suffers, as does their ability to learn. So many school hours are lost because of dental pain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Webb is so pleased with the Newark school program that she is discussing similar outreach in other municipalities, including Irvington and Elizabeth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Webb\u2019s deep commitment to the community she serves was developed while a student at Montclair. \u201cBecause of the University\u2019s location I was able to find meaningful part-time work teaching science in nearby schools and had opportunities to participate in research for the Biology department,\u201d she says. \u201cI also had access to my family, as well as the culturally robust neighborhoods in and around Montclair.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Webb rounded out her Montclair experience by serving as a Resident Assistant and participating in the Organization of Students for African Unity (OSAU). \u201cI learned how to multitask,\u201d she says, recalling also the opening of the Red Hawk Diner and relaxing at the Rathskeller.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pediatric dentist Suffiyah Webb \u201904 DDS, MPH is on a mission to bring dentistry \u2013 and the resulting overall health benefits \u2013 to children, starting with her home community of Newark, New Jersey. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":326,"featured_media":212924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76_alumni-news-and-events","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/326"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212926,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212925\/revisions\/212926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}