{"id":5118,"date":"2024-08-11T15:04:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-11T15:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncafcc2.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=5118"},"modified":"2024-08-11T15:24:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-11T15:24:39","slug":"spotlight-dr-brett-leslie-dmd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncafcc.org\/es\/spotlight-dr-brett-leslie-dmd\/","title":{"rendered":"SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Brett Leslie, DMD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young dentist making a difference on multiple oral health initiatives<\/em><\/h3>\n
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One of the patients dentist Brett Leslie recalls vividly from his work at Community Care Clinic of Rowan in Salisbury had to have all of her teeth extracted because of decay caused by past drug abuse and years of neglected dental care. A new set of dentures gave her a new outlook on life.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was so thankful to have her smile back and said that with the confidence she derived from her new smile, she was going to pursue nursing school,\u201d Brett said. \u201cWe helped her so that she can in turn help others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others sparked Brett\u2019s interest in public health dentistry early on during his days as an undergraduate at Chapel Hill, and at the ripe old age of 30, he has emerged as a rising star on the oral health scene for North Carolina\u2019s free and charitable clinics.<\/p>\n

The Salisbury native joined CCC Rowan as a paid staff dentist in 2021 after a brief stint in private practice following graduation from dental school at East Carolina University in 2019. Now he\u2019s lending a hand on\u00a0 initiatives involving other members of the North Carolina Association of Free and Charitable Clinics.<\/p>\n

He worked with Cook Community Clinic and Matthews Free Medical Clinic on an earlier mobile dental effort and is now helping the NCAFCC\u2019s new mobile dental unit get up and running. He assists Moore Free & Charitable Clinic\u2019s new dental clinic and helped launch the NCAFCC\u2019s dental networking group.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love free and charitable clinics because they serve such a huge need,\u201d Brett said. \u201cWe serve people who can\u2019t afford dental care, but they\u2019re working and making too much to get government assistance. All of the clinics are doing such great work and they\u2019re all so different, which is cool to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brett got his first taste of public health dentistry at the clinic the summer after his freshman year at Chapel Hill in 2012, shadowing volunteer dentist David Mayberry. He volunteered throughout college and dental school, and when he graduated and went to work for a local dentist, something was missing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much more fulfillment (working at CCC Rowan) than I found in private practice because you\u2019re touching lives and you\u2019re changing your community, which happens to be my own community,\u201d Brett said. \u201cBut you\u2019re also working with a great group of people. I\u2019ve worked with a lot of different free clinics, and they\u2019re all full of good people because they all have the heart for this, which you\u2019ve got to have to do this type of work because it has its challenges as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Leslie has really become a beloved part of what we do here each day,\u201d said Krista Woolly, executive director of CCC Rowan. \u201cHe is interested in dentistry, sure, but also in the whole person and how their oral health affects overall health. He loves to teach and to think big picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brett\u2019s passion for teaching both patients and other dental health professionals is clearly part of the fulfillment he derives from his work. He shares the story of a patient who was embarrassed by her smile because of a buildup of plaque and calculus so heavy he could barely see her teeth.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we did for her was clean her teeth and educate her on how to properly\u00a0brush and floss, something she had never been taught before, as is true for most patients,\u201d Brett said. \u201cWe empowered her to take care of herself. She acquired Medicaid but wrote us a touching note expressing her immense gratitude for that small but important step of patient education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brett played a key role in launching the association\u2019s dental networking group, a new vehicle to help clinics share best practices and standardize care. The group\u2019s first meeting in May featured a speaker from Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, where Brett is an instructor in the dental assisting program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thrilled that Dr. Leslie is taking the lead on this project and feel that with his expertise, the NCAFCC dental efforts will be consistent and efficient,\u201d said Krista, who in addition to leading CCC Rowan also works on behalf of all 69 NCAFCC member clinics in her role chairing the association\u2019s board of directors.<\/p>\n

Brett is excited to see so many initiatives to expand access to oral health care across the NCAFCC\u2019s free and charitable clinic footprint \u2013 from Macon County in Western North Carolina to Dare County on the Outer Banks \u2013 that are currently underway or have recently borne fruit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just so important, for overall health, for esteem, for employability,\u201d Brett said. \u201cBy treating dental disease in the clinics, we\u2019re saving hospital emergency rooms a lot of time and money, and just reducing that societal burden of dental disease, especially in rural counties.\u201d<\/p>\n

CCC Rowan\u2019s dental practice saw 507 unique patients, provided 1,600 visits, performed more than 6,000 procedures, and delivered more than $740,000 in free dental treatment in 2023. And by keeping patients (medical and dental) out of the local ER, the clinic estimates it saved Novant Health over $4 million.<\/p>\n

Brett thinks it\u2019s important that free and charitable clinics are private, volunteer-driven, community-based solutions to their communities\u2019 needs, and being able to serve uninsured and underinsured neighbors in his own hometown makes his work at CCC Rowan especially meaningful to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe clinic just serves a huge need in the community \u2013 as all the free and charitable clinics do \u2013 but this is my community so I can see the difference it is making,\u201d Brett said. \u201cSome of the patients I know. One patient a few years ago was someone I went to high school with, so I really get a sense that it\u2019s making a difference in people\u2019s lives, and Rowan County is very fortunate to have it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young dentist making a difference on multiple oral health initiatives One of the patients dentist Brett Leslie recalls vividly from his work at Community Care Clinic of Rowan in Salisbury had to have all of her teeth extracted because of decay caused by past drug abuse and years of neglected dental care. A new set…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reflection"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncafcc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncafcc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncafcc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncafcc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncafcc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ncafcc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncafcc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncafcc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncafcc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncafcc.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}