The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) recently recognized Julie Spaniel, DDS, a general dentist from Portland Oregon, with the prestigious 2024 AGD Humanitarian Award. The award will be presented to Dr. Spaniel during AGD’s Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, on November 22, 2024. Spaniel, a member of the AGD for more than 35 years, is recognized for her selfless international mission work and commitment to mentoring young up-and-coming dentists. This award is given each year to a dentist who contributes volunteer service in conjunction with a consistent commitment to enhancing the image of general dentistry through the continuous delivery of quality dental care.
“Dr. Spaniel has made service a way of life,” said Dr. Bill Jordan, DMD, MAGD, Oregon AGD Past President. “Her work with underserved populations can only enhance the opinion of those she serves that the dental profession, as a whole, cares, and sacrifices to meet their needs.”
Spaniel began her dentistry career after receiving her Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Dentistry. As a dental student, Spaniel was offered the opportunity to provide dental services to underserved communities of North Carolina. In 2010, an experience in Ghana led her to participate in missions providing oral health care to underserved populations in Ghana, Honduras, the Maasai Mara region of Kenya, and Uganda. Spaniel introduced pre-med and pre-dental undergrad students to the opportunity of assisting her in rural clinics in the Volta region of Ghana.
At least 25 students from Middlebury College were able to experience working in pop-up outdoor clinics. Alongside Spaniel and other seasoned medical professionals, the students assisted with setting up triage, medical, dental, pharmacy, and public education areas. The students would break up into groups of five workers and rotate through the departments.
“Over the years I find equal joy in providing care and watching the students grow and change before my eyes,” said Spaniel. The people, both the students and adults, who have joined us on our trips are never the same after they return home.”
In 2018, with the relationships and connections she made in Uganda and Kenya, Spaniel founded the nonprofit organization One World Brigades. The organization’s mission is to bring student volunteers to rural communities in Honduras, Ghana, and Kenya to provide medical and dental health. In 2020, the organization assisted in building a school in Kenya’s Maasai Mara region. Today, the school operates preschool through 5th grade. In addition, the organization has assisted with clean water projects, sanitary restroom facilities, teacher’s living quarters and launching a solar project this year.
Recently, the organization was approved for the status to be registered for a Kenyan non-governmental organization (NGO) status, which will allow them to accept donated land to build a permanent medical dental clinic for the communities. They have received a generous donation of two retired mobile dental clinics from Medical Teams International in Oregon, that will be shipped to Nairobi in the first quarter of next year. They will also be able to train and employ local citizens to run the clinics. Foreign dentists volunteer to provide a week of care and have a week or more of Safari afterward. Medical and dental clinics are held twice a year. The organization serves over 1200 patients each year, partnering with an in-country NGO for support.
Julie Spaniel DDS is currently in private practice in the State of Oregon. She is actively involved in the Oregon Dental Association and the ADA, chairing the Dental Wellness Committee for the state of Oregon. Dr Spaniel is on the Dental Wellness Advisory Committee for the American Dental Association, keeping our healthcare professionals healthy. This involves monthly speaker presentations, outreach, education, and bi-annual meetings. She was recently asked to serve on the first Cohort of ten Wellness Ambassadors to the American Dental Association. Dr Spaniel is the annual meeting coordinator and President of the National Academy for Private Dental Practice, where she continues to serve on the board and consult. She is on the board of the Oregon Academy of General Dentistry, serves as Past President on the executive board of the Washington County Dental Society, and is actively involved in the American Academy of Oral Systemic Health.
