Volunteer dental providers are the heart and soul of the Capital Area Dental Foundation. Throughout the year, these generous men and women open up their offices (and their hearts) to people in need.
Once a quarter, CADF shines the spotlight on one of these dedicated dental providers. This quarter, we are proud to recognize Dr. Bethany Petersen.
Dr. Peterson hails from Bozeman, Montana, but got to Texas as fast as she could. She attended dental school at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston (where she met her husband) and moved to Austin after graduation to start her career. She is now an associate at the Rose Dental Group in the South Austin location, a practice well known for giving back to the community.
Dr. Petersen was invited to attend the CADF Gala three years ago. She filled out one of the volunteer cards and was connected with her first CADF patient just a week later. Bethany credits two current board members, Melinda Perrier and Dr. Barry Rouch, with helping her get more involved with charitable dentistry. “The entire CADF Board is just amazing,” Dr. Petersen said.
“I just love people and have always wanted to do something in charitable dentistry,” said Dr. Petersen. “My first CADF patient, Carmen, was a full-mouth case through Goodwill. She was the nicest lady, but when I first met her she had really low self-esteem. She was in a lot of pain and had lost a lot of her teeth. She could only eat soft foods and was too ashamed to smile or go anywhere.”
Over the course of many months, Dr. Petersen was able to restore Carmen’s smile back to the way it used to be. “Carmen now smiles all the time and looks and feels like a million bucks. She is literally like a different person and has found a new job,” says Dr. Petersen.
Dr. Petersen is an avid runner and the proud owner of two active dogs. But that doesn’t stop her from picking up and dropping off her patients who do not have transportation or delivering warm socks and food at homeless shelters on cold nights. “CADF has really helped open my eyes to all the need out there in the community. I could not fathom being someone who does not help people.” Petersen said.
Thank you Dr. Petersen for your generous spirit and inspiring leadership!
If you would like to learn more about volunteering with the Capital Area Dental Foundation, please contact Liz Rubio at l.rubio@capitalareadentalfoundation.org or 512-992-1217.
