Juliet Fiscus dreams of one day becoming a licensed certified chemical dependency counselor. She is taking a class at Austin Community College to move her closer to this goal. She has a temporary job, but is looking for something more permanent with the help of Goodwill Central Texas. When it became clear that her teeth were a barrier to employment, Juliet’s caseworker told her about a new charitable program with the Capital Area Dental Foundation. Juliet was connected to Austin dentist and CADF volunteer provider, Dr. Tricia Kimes, who removed 16 of Juliet’s teeth and gave her partial upper and lower dentures-all at no cost. “I had no dental coverage, but was in a lot of pain and had big holes in some of my teeth. Sometimes it hurt to eat since my gums would get really swollen,” explained Juliet. “Now I have no pain and am no longer ashamed of my appearance. I feel confident and like I am complete.”
