Arizona
Local Hero: Dr. Z.
“Part of our profession is to give back to humankind. You have to do it,” says Dr. Z., who runs a small practice in Tucson with the help of his wife Barb, who is his office manager.  A former president of the Southern Arizona Dental Society , Dr. Z. is committed to helping others in numerous ways, ranging from forgiving dental costs for selected needy patients at Christmas to volunteering for the Tucson Festival of Hope (where a variety of professionals donate their services), Give Kids a Smile Day , and Women in Transition . Dr. Z. learned about DDS through the ADA newsletter. Like most DDS volunteers, Dr. Z. appreciates that the patients are prescreened and he doesn’t have to pay a lab fee—all he has to do is to donate his time. “You get the satisfaction of treating people the way they should be treated, and they’re grateful,” he says. For one DDS patient whose teeth had shifted, Dr. Z. talked an orthodontist buddy into closing the gaps. “Her self-esteem rose one-hundred percent,” he recalls. “I used to think you’re either in pain or you’re not in pain, but cosmetics really makes a lot of difference, especially for women. Fixing their smiles gives them the confidence to help their lives move forward.”