“Restore a Hero’s Smile” in Faces: Yuriy Obukhivskyi, Obukhivskyi Dental Clinic, Kyiv

Yuriy Obukhivskyi and the team at Оbukhivskyi DC joined Olena Polikarchyk’s initiative — Dental Help UA — almost from the very beginning of its foundation in May 2022. According to Yuriy, collaborating with the foundation was a natural continuation of his work with WHITE.

The rehabilitation of defenders with Straumann implants provided by Dental Help UA allows Yuriy and his team to continue their volunteer mission, which began back in 2014. That year, Yuriy started providing free dental care to Ukrainian servicemen, and in 2019, as part of the “Tryzub Dental” project, he and the Obukhivskyi DC team traveled to Karlivka in Donetsk region to provide dental assistance to soldiers.

“The clinic receives military patients by pre-arranged appointments” Yuriy explains. – The entire Obukhivskyi DC team decided to help Ukrainian defenders on a volunteer basis. Situations like this reveal who truly belongs to your team. It’s reassuring that in these difficult times, our staff demonstrated unity and shared values». A key role in treatment is played by the clinic’s partner, Stelmakh Lab, headed by Yaroslav Stelmakh. From a logistical perspective, this is where the prosthetic construction is finalized, to be fitted onto the teeth and previously placed implants.

According to Yuriy, when interacting with a military patient, it is important to maintain boundaries, be attentive to their emotions, and avoid personal topics.

«Overall, during the year and a half the clinic has worked with Dental Help UA, we have been able to expand the range of support provided to servicemen,» he comments.

«Straumann implants and components provided by the foundation are the final stage, as we perform complete treatment beforehand. This is our professional approach.»

The «roadmap» is a treatment algorithm developed by the dental team, outlining the steps to be implemented in patient care. It includes diagnostics, periodontal treatment, extraction of hopeless teeth, caries treatment, therapy, prosthetics, surgery, and more. The main idea is to logically complete the initiated treatment while considering military time constraints. When a defender does not have time to undergo full rehabilitation immediately, the clinic team focuses on completing the most critical stage of care, allowing the serviceman to concentrate on his duties without suffering from dental pain, and then continue treatment later according to the agreed “roadmap”.

“The main feature of Obukhivskyi DC’s work is that after completing dental treatment, we continue to provide periodontal support to servicemen. Our managers inform patients at scheduled times about the need for maintenance therapy», Yuriy explains.

What motivates him most in working with defenders is the result. «A soldier changes not only externally but internally. A healthy smile gives him confidence and makes him feel younger. Naturally, this positively affects his quality of life in every aspect and helps him feel more confident in society», the doctor notes.

Yuriy emphasizes that society must actively adapt to properly welcome veterans: strengthening state programs, ensuring barrier-free spaces in commercial institutions, and more. He also believes that medical professionals play a special role in veterans’ adaptation: «We must continue to competently do our work because there is still a lot ahead, and we, as doctors, are very needed by our defenders».