HEROES

HEROES Word of Mouth

Dr. Mitchell Josephs restores MORE THAN SMILES for local Holocaust survivors

By Sam Kerrigan

Of the hundreds of patients that Palm Beach dentist Dr. Mitchell Josephs treats every year, a handful are particularly special to him. They’re Holocaust survivors, whom he treats free of charge. Josephs was inspired to help after hearing a Holocaust survivor speak to members of the Palm Beach Synagogue. He says he found himself at the event by a stroke of luck. “I wasn’t going to go to that event that day, but my plans changed,” he recalls. “The way destiny worked out, I wound up by myself going to this woman’s house in my neighborhood.” Josephs couldn’t help but wonder about the dental needs of local Holocaust

survivors, so he reached out to the Alpert Jewish Family Service of Palm Beach County.

After learning that there are 12,000 Holocaust survivors in Palm Beach County—and that 5,000 of them live below the poverty line—Josephs was determined to help. Armed with a list of Alpert clients who are Holocaust survivors in need of costly dental work, Josephs began restoring their smiles (and confidence) by performing cosmetic and implant dental reconstructions—from crowns and implants to extractions, dentures, and bone grafts—at no cost.

“These people have been through an incredible nightmare and it’s something that I’m able to do,” he says. The work is its own reward for Josephs, who sees these patients leave his office happier about how they look and feel. “If you can’t chew, or can’t chew your food small enough, you can become overweight, but you can also get very sick,” Josephs says. “I’ve seen people’s health change from doing this kind of work, and that’s very rewarding.”

Josephs admits that some of these visits can be heartwrenching as patients share their harrowing stories of survival. The silence from others tells its own tale, as some can’t bring themselves to speak about what they went through. But always, their gratitude warms his heart.

“These are really passionate people,” he says. “The thank-you cards I get sometimes bring out more tears than the stories of the Holocaust.” The doctor’s hope is that more local dentists and health care providers will join him in treating these survivors free of charge, helping ease the burdens of those who have endured so much. «

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“I’VE SEEN PEOPLE’S HEALTH CHANGE FROM DOING THIS KIND OF WORK, AND THAT’S VERY REWARDING.”