Helping the world, one dental exam at a time New Haven dentist takes his skills on the road By Cindy Mindell NEW HAVEN - Dr. Jack Levine, DDS has a unique view of tikkun olam. "When we teach people to go out there and repair the world, there's a certain view that it's broken and that it's our job to fix it," says the Bridgeport native. "My present view is that the world is not broken. I believe that we are all divine, unique, and special and that whoever the Creator is doesn't make broken pieces." In November, the New Haven-based dentist returned from his seventh trip as a volunteer with 1000 Smiles, the largest international humanitarian dental project that brings dentists to Jamaica to provide pro bono dental care and education. A collaboration between Great Shape! Inc., Sandals Resorts International, and the Jamaican Ministry of Health, 1000 Smiles has served approximately 120,000 Jamaicans since its start in 2002. Levine, 65, is a practicing Jew and Buddhist and was first inspired to do volunteer dentistry 20 years ago on a trip to Mt. Everest, where he met the Nepalese Minister of Health. After hearing about the lack of dental care in the country, "that was the launching pad for me to do volunteer dentistry around the world," Levine says. "To me, it blended my Jewish studies and a spiritual path of Buddhism." Over time, Levine has seen his professional interest evolve from a clinical private practice to public health and a global view of how to help more people. He spends three to four weeks a year volunteering around the world, and has participated in Volunteers for Israel and the Alpha Omega International Dental Fraternity, a Jewish organization that supports Hadassah Medical Center's Dental School of Medicine and other Israeli dental programs. In addition to serving on the board of directors of the all-volunteer Himalayan HealthCare, Inc., Levine has worked in Bhutan, China, Uganda, and Haiti. As preceptor in the UConn School of Dental Medicine, he has taken students to volunteer in the Amazon River region and Peru. Recently, he was selected by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as one of three American dentists to work in a Tanzanian refugee camp. UNHCR camps provide no eyecare or dental care, and the three dentists taught refugees - nurses, nurses' assistants, and laypeople - how to run their own clinic. Levine will travel next to do the same thing in Kenyan and Rwandan camps. Last year, he joined the American Dental Association committee on international development, which fields all requests for international volunteer dentistry. Levine's goal is not only to treat, but to educate. In Jamaica, dental-health nurses in the school system are responsible for the dental care of children up to age 18, but statistics show that only 9.5 percent of students are seen by these practitioners. In rural areas, there is one dentist for every 100,000 people, and only one percent of adults ever sees a dentist. In 2002, Levine started with 1000 Smiles as a clinician, and ended up taking out a lot of teeth. "But I thought, 'Maybe that's not the answer,'" he recalls, and helped design a community-based oral-health program, which the Jamaican Minister of Health approved. "As soon as the Minister in any country is on our side, we can work within their internal structure," he says. "The traditional thing is to go to a toothbrush manufacturer and get donations, then pass out the toothbrushes among people who have no idea what to do with them, he says. "I have photos of people using them on shoes, jewelry, hair. But if people in developing countries are taught to follow the World Health Organization global guidelines, they'll have a basis for making change." Levine plans to return to Nepal in the spring, or work at the ADA's program in Vietnam and Laos. He's also planning a trip with a colleague to Israel. Over the last 20 years, he has done a lot of pro bono work in his own practice, starting with the Russian-Jewish refuseniks who were resettled in the New Haven area in the '80s. When the U.S. government granted asylum to 1,000 Tibetan refugees, 26 were brought to New Haven and to Levine's practice. Now he helps resettled refugees from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Iraq. He continues to encourage colleagues to contribute their skills and time. This year, Dr. Susan Levine (no relation), a dentist in Fairfield, was one of the 200 dentists on the 1000 Smiles trip, inspired to participate after meeting Jack last year. "Jack is a very effusive, motivating personality. He immediately mentioned Great Shape!" says Susan. "I love to travel, I love adventure, and I love dentistry. At the time, I couldn't go, but when he called me again this year, I said 'I'm in.'"