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Story by Angela Coulombe

Audra Boynton’s relationship with ����ר�� started when she reached out to learn more about the dental hygiene program. A phone call to arrange a shadowing experience with a dental hygiene student ended with Boynton submitting her application to the program that same day. In less than a month, she was already attending classes.

Today, Boynton, B.S. ’08, D.M.D. ’18, finds value in returning to the ����ר�� dental hygiene clinic as a supervisor to share her first-hand experiences as a public health dentist in a community health clinic with dental hygiene students who may not have experienced that side of health care.

Raised in the rural town of Windsor, Maine, Boynton witnessed the results of finances and location creating barriers to health care. Her experience inspired her to focus her career on creating access to healthcare. After graduating from ����ר�� with a B.S. in Dental Hygiene, she was a dental hygienist for the homeless in Portland at a combined medical and dental facility.

“This job gave me a profound sense of purpose and laid the groundwork for my desire to become a dentist,” Boynton said. “The emphasis of dental hygiene lies predominantly on prevention. My aspiration was to alleviate people’s pain. To fulfill this aspiration, I needed to attend dental school.”

After earning her second degree at ����ר�� — her Doctor of Dental Medicine — Boynton returned the public health sector to provide oral health care at Kennebec Valley Family Dentistry, a nonprofit clinic in Augusta. During her three-year tenure at the clinic, she employed advanced technologies for designing and milling crowns and performed bridges and full mouth reconstructions.

“The demand for these services in public health is high,” she said. “A significant portion of the population neglects self-care, and as a result, lives with severe pain.”

Boynton is currently a public health dentist at Oasis Free Clinics in Brunswick. The clinic provides comprehensive primary care medical and dental services free of charge to uninsured adults.

Boynton uses her ����ר�� experiences to encourage patients to take advantage of the combined services.

“At ����ר��, I participated in the Interprofessional Honors Distinction course, which taught me how various medical professions tackle different health issues,” she remarked. “I apply this interprofessional training daily to positively impact my patients’ lives.”

Boynton’s schedule at the clinic affords her the time to pursue her other passion: sharing her experiences with current ����ר�� students. She has been a supervisor at ����ר��’s dental hygiene clinic after her its faculty approached her about the opportunity when she returned to ����ר�� for dental school, and she has stayed in the role ever since.

Boynton also served as the keynote speaker for the College of Dental Medicine White Coat Ceremony in 2023.

“I find working with students extremely rewarding,” she said. “Public health enhances lives, alleviates human suffering, and saves money and resources by emphasizing prevention and education. It also promotes community health, which aligns with ����ר��’s mission. This is certainly a value worth imparting to current ����ר�� students.”