Each year on Gator Nation Giving Day, UF’s annual 24-hour giving fundraiser to unite Gators around the world, the UF College of Dentistry calls on its alumni, friends and supporters of the college to make a gift – no matter the size – to a dentistry fund of their choice or a UFCD initiative or program close to their heart.
Gifts to the College of Dentistry bolster the college’s education, research, patient care and service missions, and make a direct impact on the lives of our students, residents, faculty and staff, including those students and residents who receive merit and need-based scholarships through the College of Dentistry Scholarship Fund.
In some cases, need-based scholarships are important to recruit and train the best and brightest future Gator Dentists like Brian Perez.
“I’ll be honest – we don’t have money, but I will forever be grateful for my mother’s willingness to set me on a different life course than what she experienced in Cuba,” Brian Perez said. “She raised me with the humor you see every day, but she sacrificed everything for me. It was her guidance in life that allowed me to discover my love for dentistry. I want to have the same impact my mother had on my life through this profession — to do my part in narrowing the gap in health disparities.”
Brian Perez, DMD Class of 2027
Scholarships at Work
Scholarship gifts earmarked to the UF College of Dentistry help support first-generation dental students like Brian Perez, DMD Class of 2027.
Meet Brian Perez, DMD Class of 2027, a Machen Florida Opportunity Scholar, first-gen college student, soon-to-be Gator Dentist and double-Gator, thanks in large part to the need-based scholarship support he’s earned for his undergraduate education and first two years of dental school at the University of Florida.
For starters, the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholarship, or MFOS, and full ride grant package were Brian’s only means to attend college at Florida. The MFOS program assists historically low-income first-generation college students in meeting their college costs to earn their bachelor’s degree from UF.
“I was so blessed with the full ride Machen scholarship because it allowed me to attend Florida and subsequently pursue dental school,” Perez said. “To focus on my grades and not worry about the financial burden of paying for school or wondering where my next meal would come from, like we experienced some nights during middle and high school, was a relief.”
Dental school has served as a full-circle moment for Brian, made possible by six different scholarship awards and both the HRSA Dental Loan for Disadvantaged Students and HRSA Dental Health Professions Student Loan through his first two years at UFCD.
While financial support has been critical for Brian’s education, it doesn’t define him. Kind, smart, persevering and humorous come to mind. A positive outlook and a little laughter can work wonders.
Son of a single mom and Miami native with Cuban roots, Brian keeps his mom’s “¡Cepíllate los dientes!” command – Brush your teeth! – top of mind for inspiration to fuel his career in dentistry. Brian has grown to appreciate that, what seemed like an incessant chore for him and his brother growing up – brushing their teeth – was really the result of his Cuban immigrant mother’s passion for his oral health care after a lifetime of her own struggles and trauma battling oral health disparities in Cuba, where she not only lacked access to basic oral health care products, but struggled to make ends meet. Food took precedence over toothpaste.
“Being a Cuban immigrant, she brought with her the trauma of dealing with oral health disparities her entire life,” Perez said. “Rundown stores in Cuba never had basic oral health products, only empty shelves. She suffered tooth loss and decay because of it, and she’s still dealing with dental problems to this day; I hope to fix them.”
Alleviating oral health disparities and providing care for underserved communities, like the one that raised him, is what drew Brian to a career in dentistry. Desiring to erase the pain and struggles of his mom and so many others in Miami-Dade County who lack access to basic necessities, like food on the table each night and primary health care, propelled Brian to be a standout student at Hialeah Gardens Elementary, Middle and High School, enroute to his full ride MFOS to UF.
“I’ll be honest – we don’t have money, but I will forever be grateful for my mother’s willingness to set me on a different life course than what she experienced in Cuba,” Brian Perez said. “She raised me with the humor you see every day, but she sacrificed everything for me. It was her guidance in life that allowed me to discover my love for dentistry. I want to have the same impact my mother had on my life through this profession — to do my part in narrowing the gap in health disparities.”
Finding Dentistry
As an undergraduate in the MFOS program, Brian’s mentor was none other than current D4 Shannon Robinson who, as luck would have it, was on her way to dental school. While he had the itch and interest in oral health care from his lived experiences, there was a moment of self-reflection and exploration about what path he’d take in life before officially taking the plunge into the dentistry deep end.
“I really asked myself ‘Who am I?’ I’m very social, I like to talk to people,” Brian reflected. “I like to joke around. I really like art and at the same time really like science, and dentistry combines those perfectly.”
Brian, who was president of Delta Delta Sigma, UF’s Pre-Dental Honor Society, during undergrad, had that ‘AHA’ moment after volunteering at the Florida Dental Association’s 2021 Florida Mission of Mercy community dental clinic in Jacksonville. Florida Mission of Mercy is the state’s largest dental clinic that provides no-cost dental care with the goal of serving underserved and uninsured patients in Florida who would otherwise be without care.
“Seeing hundreds of patients flood the convention center floor for dental care reminded me a lot of my mom,” Perez said. “She didn’t have her canines or her front teeth. After getting to know some of the patients, I realized many of them had never seen a dentist; they’d been deprived of dental care for far too long. One of our patients needed three restorations and had a ton of cavities. The dentist filled the cavities, did the three restorations of the chipped teeth and handed the patient a mirror. You could see his immediate confidence; he exploded with joy and started crying, ‘I got my smile back!’ That changes someone’s life.”
DMD Class of 2027
Brian is halfway to D.M.D. and making the most of his time at the College of Dentistry. He served as class president his first year at UFCD, is currently the American Student Dental Association Pre-Dental Chair, he’s an Admissions Outreach Ambassador where he assists UFCD’s admissions team with the recruitment of prospective students, and he also plays an important role on UFCD’s Shared Governance Curriculum Committee to provide feedback to college leadership on the DMD curriculum from the student perspective.
His Spanish has come in handy as a translator for Super Sealant Saturday for UFCD’s Spanish-speaking patients, parents and guardians, and you can also add tutor to his resume as a biochemistry and cariology resources tutor for D1s. He was an Honor Marshal at the college’s Professional Coating Ceremony last year and consistently volunteers for mentoring events, like orientation, to welcome new and aspiring dental students with open arms.
Outside the walls of UFCD, you might catch Brian cruising through campus on his bike; yes, even on cold and rainy days – it’s his mode of transportation rain or shine. And on those rare occasions he has free time, you can find him at F45 crushing a workout, spending time with his girlfriend, playing a little Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, cheering for the Gators and Buffalo Bills or content creating the most clever and witty reels for Instagram to document the journey of a lifetime: dental school.
The DMD Class of 2027’s Professional Coating Ceremony is just around the corner at the end of May, an educational milestone where the class transitions from didactic coursework to providing clinical care for patients. He’s that much closer to D.M.D. and the goal remains the same.
“Given my life experiences, I have the unique opportunity to be a part of the next generation of dentists dedicated to eliminating health disparities,” Perez said.
That, and taking care of mom.
Give to Student Scholarship Today
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Scholarship Fund
Stand Up and Holler for Student Scholarship! Need and merit-based scholarship support plays an important role in UFCD’s ability to recruit and train the best and brightest Gator Dentists – the next generation of oral health leaders. When you give to UFCD’s Scholarship Fund you’re supporting students like Brian Perez.
