TRODENT
INSPIRED
ASPID graduate Amrita Charkaborty DDS ’19 discusses the inspiration that led her to a career treating children with special needs as well as being a published author of Bright Little Smiles.
BY AMRITA CHAKRABORTY DDS ’19
WHEN I SAT DOWN TO WRITE Bright Little Smiles, I thought I was writing a practical guide for parents and providers. Instead, I found myself writing my way back through a lifetime of memories.
I kept seeing my little sister in the dental chair. She has Down syndrome, and, as a teenager, I watched her appointments with a knot in my stomach. The room was always too bright, too fast, too loud. People spoke around her instead of to her. Explanations were rushed or skipped because “she wouldn’t understand anyway.” I understood, though. I understood the way her hands tightened on the armrest, the way my dad tried to translate both language and emotion at the same time.
Somewhere in those moments, the seed of dentistry was planted — not from a love of enamel or occlusion, but from a quiet conviction: This has to feel different for kids like her. I wanted to be the person who slowed down, who found the words (or pictures or gestures) that bridged the gap, who made the chair feel safe.
Ostrow gave that conviction a home.
As part of the core team of the USC Mobile Dental Clinic, I met children whose stories echoed my sister’s in different ways — kids who were afraid, kids who had never seen a dentist, kids with disabilities whose needs had been overlooked because everything took “too long.” In schoolyards and community centers, with our clinic on wheels, I learned that dentistry could be a form of advocacy. We weren’t just fixing teeth; we were telling children, “You matter enough for us to come to you.”
What made Ostrow special was not just the patients we saw, but the way the school saw us. Every student, no matter where we came from, was given space to learn, to make mistakes and to discover our strengths without judgment. As an international student, it is not common to dream of residency, but mentors like Dr. Santosh, Dr. Beale, Dr. Nineli, Dr. Mehdi, Dr. Frydman and many others met me with guidance, not limits.
Ostrow became a haven where I slowly learned to believe that my background, my sister’s story, my love for children with disabilities — these were not obstacles but my greatest assets.
Today, as a pediatric dentist and the author of Bright Little Smiles: A Practical Guide to Dental Care for Children with Disabilities, I carry all of that with me into every appointment. I think of my sister when I dim the light, when I wait an extra minute for eye contact, when I turn brushing instructions into a game. I think of the children I met at the mobile clinic who taught me that trust is earned slowly, one gentle visit at a time.
My hope is that future international students reading this will see themselves in these lines and know: As an Ostrow graduate, the sky is truly the limit. Somewhere out there is a child whose world will be softer, kinder, because you chose to show up for them. That thought is what gets me out of bed every morning — and it still inspires me every single day.