By Josh Friesen
Diyar Dezay could immediately tell how nervous his patient was.
She was the first patient Dezay had ever had assigned to him as an OHSU dental student. It was the patient’s first visit to a dentist in seven years.
Dezay could’ve just started the procedure immediately. Instead, he and the patient spent the first half hour simply chatting.
“I was really just trying to learn her story, and I learned so much about her,” said Dezay, a third-year dental student in the OHSU School of Dentistry. “I learned she has a lot of anxiety, that no providers in the past have ever offered her nitrous for sedation, and she’d just become terrified.”
Week after week, the patient returned, and Dezay slowly repaired her teeth. After her last appointment, she told Dezay he was the best dentist she’d ever had.
“I’d only been practicing for three months,” he said. “But she kept coming back not because I’m uniquely good at dentistry, but because she felt seen and heard. That’s something I’ve really enjoyed. It’s not all about your skillset. It’s about how you can make people feel.”
Dezay was born in Iraq and as a young child moved with his siblings and parents to the U.S., where they settled in Tualatin, Oregon. He attended the University of Oregon in Eugene and originally wanted to pursue neurology — he earned his undergraduate degree in neuroscience and human physiology. During his studies, though, he pivoted toward dentistry. When it came to dental schools, Dezay only had one place in mind.
“OHSU produces a lot of really good dentists. It’s right up there with the best dental schools in the world,” he said. “But the biggest thing was that I’d spent four years away from my parents. I didn’t get to visit often. So, it just made sense. I get to be closer to them and go to a great school. There’s nothing more I could ask for.”
Dezay learned early on how much he enjoyed talking to people, learning about them, making them feel seen and establishing connections with them. He thinks about the connections he made as a kid, and he remembers the people who supported him and his family growing up in a new country.
Dezay volunteers at the Bridges Collaborative Care Clinic, a student-led free clinic that provides OHSU dental students opportunities for hands-on learning while offering essential healthcare services to underserved communities in Portland. He is co-president of Voices for Inclusion, Belonging and Equity, a student group in the School of Dentistry that hosts social, professional and educational events for underrepresented groups in the school. He’s also a student board member of the Oregon Academy of General Dentistry and vendor relations chair of the OHSU chapter of the American Student Dental Association.
“I find a lot of peace in volunteering. You feel good about what you’re doing,” Dezay said. “It’s about making the school a better place for everyone.”
Dezay recalls a particular volunteer experience that reinforced his view. Last summer, he was part of a dentistry mission trip to the Dominican Republic, where he and some other OHSU dental students set up in a church and provided dental care to Haitian workers from a local sugarcane plantation.
“When you’re in dental school, you’re thinking about requirements, attendance, all these things you’re graded on,” Dezay said. “When we went to the Dominican Republic, we were just there to help people. That really reminded me what dentistry is all about.”
Dezay is getting all he can out of his time at OHSU thanks in part to the Oscar E. and Dee Smith Family Endowed Scholarship, established in 2013 in honor of Oscar Smith, D.M.D. ’53, and his wife, Delila. The scholarship enables Dezay the flexibility to focus on schooling while participating in extra volunteer and learning opportunities.
“I was like, ‘Wow, someone out there really values me as a provider,’” Dezay said. “Someone trusts me enough to give me this money because they want me to pursue my dream.”
After he graduates, Dezay wants to continue helping others — whether it’s in a public health role, working in a practice or volunteering. He’s grateful to his faculty, classmates and philanthropic support for helping make that happen.
“All the patients I see, I want to go back and help them more,” Dezay said. “I think the overarching theme of my life is giving back.”
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