Today we’d like to introduce you to Brooke Sargent.
Hi Brooke, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born at 27 weeks with cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia, and have received medical care for as long as I can remember. At age 7, I fell in my front driveway with serial casts on my feet and chipped my 2 front teeth right as my adult teeth were coming in. From that point on, I was commonly in the dental chair and knew I wanted to give back to my community that had given me my confidence back. In high school, I studied dental assisting, learned microbiology, infection control and more, and started a co-op job in an office when I was just 16. I graduated Essex Tech in Massachusetts as valedictorian in 2025 from their dental assisting program and now currently attend the University of Michigan on the pre-dental track. As I learned more about dentistry and expanded my work to public speaking and advocacy for disability awareness, I realized there was a large healthcare inequality for individuals with disabilities or members of other minorities in the dental space. Oftentimes, patients are not able to visit a practice that is adequately equipped with the proper equipment for various needs, or people are simply not aware of how important dental care is for their overall well-being. I founded a pending nonprofit, Abiliteeth, that aims to provide resources and care to close this gap and allow for everyone’s dental needs to be met, regardless of ability.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been smooth. Personally, I recieve a great deal of reluctance from employers or patients about my ability to successfully perform dental assisting duties due to my disability, even though I am perfectly qualified. As far as Abiliteeth goes, it is not always easy to find sponsors or raise funds since it is in such an introductory stage. Also, my ultimate goal is to provide live dental services, but we need a working dentist and many volunteers to make it happen, so that will be something to strive for in the future. It is also just plain hard to juggle everything while I am a full-time student, but I wouldn’t want to do anything else, I love helping people.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Outside of my nonprofit work, I am an adaptive athlete and play sled hockey nationally. My dream is to make the USA Women’s National Team and compete internationally representing the United States. I have a huge work ethic, so I am always driven to be the best version of myself in everything I do. I train in the gym, skate when I can, and always try to refine my skills. Hockey is such a passion of mine, and being able to still play with such an amazing community of disabled athletes is really so cool.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Many probably think I was dealt a bad hand, but honestly I think I am pretty lucky because I would not be as passionate about helping disabled individuals if I didn’t experience so much firsthand. I have been lucky to start our first initiative by hand-delivering care bags to Spaulding Rehab and Boston Children’s Hospitals, where I received my life-changing care, and I cannot wait to expand to the Michigan area since I have so much volunteer interest from students in my school and the Michigan community. I always feel lucky to be able to help others, and I believe that if we continue to expand, I can help others be as lucky as I have when it comes to healthcare.
Pricing:
- Readers can purchase Abiliteeth merch that helps directly support 501(c)(3) startup costs at https://www.abiliteeth.org/store
Contact Info:
- Website: https://abiliteeth.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abiliteeth/
- Facebook: @abiliteeth (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576651392983)
