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Great Falls dentist helps give free surgeries through special program

Posted at 2:14 PM, Nov 07, 2020
and last updated 2021-01-04 15:02:56-05

GREAT FALLS — Sandee Tebeau is all smiles. “I have been extremely happy and so grateful to Dr. Poulson and his whole team,” said Tebeau.

Over the past year, Great Falls dentist Justin Poulson has helped Tebeau and seven other patients go through a program in Seattle, Washington, to get free specialized dental surgery worth a total of about $116,000.

Great Falls dentist helps give free surgeries through special program

Tebeau got implants in five teeth and says she likely would not have been able to have the work done without this program.

“They were basically in the top part of my mouth, but down on the lower, too, but not as many,” said Tebeau. "It changes everything. You know, your teeth are your face almost. You basically feel like you can smile more, you can eat more proper.”

The program is designed to help dentists improve their surgical skills, allowing them to bring in their own patients for surgery.

Poulson says seeing the impact this has had on his patients can’t make him feel anything but great: “When you have a possibility to change somebody’s life for the better, it’s thrilling. It’s great. It’s one of the things that you do this for."

He hopes to be able to help more patients in the future, but without the trip to Seattle. “I was just appointed to be the president for the state of Montana for an organization called the Academy of General Dentistry, s in the next few years I’d like to do a similar program here for our own community so it’s even more focused on the state of Montana,” said Poulson.

Click here to visit Dr. Poulson's website for more information.