“Restore a Hero’s Smile” in Faces: Iryna Semianova, Glam SmileLaser, Kyiv

Glam SmileLaser, led by Chief Dentist Iryna Semianova, resumed work on March 13, 2022, when all bridges in Kyiv reopened. The clinic operated with a severely reduced team: out of 22 staff members, only two remained, while the rest had left the city. In the first month of the full-scale invasion, there were few people in Kyiv, and patient demand was low. At the same time, the number of dental clinics still accepting patients was limited.

«In March, military personnel and SBU employees started coming to us. I think I saw all types of light weapons firsthand, – recalls Iryna Semianova. We treated soldiers for free, as we still do. Thirty percent of revenue from civilian treatments went to support the Armed Forces, and patients often refused discounts when they learned the money would go to our defenders.

Among the patients was Mykhailo Vershynin, head of the Mariupol Patrol Service, who had recently been released from captivity. На той час його звільнили з полону. Many of the military patients were young men and women who had been held in Olenivka. «Each of them has a terrible story. For example, one patient had a fracture of the mandibular angle visible on an X-ray, the result of beatings and abuse by prison guards. What struck me most was that the soldier, despite her suffering, hadn’t noticed the fracture and lived with it until her release», the doctor shares.

Glam Smile joined the Dental Help UA project almost from the beginning, in May 2022. That is when soldiers recently released from captivity in Chornobyl first came to the clinic for dental care. Currently, 19 servicemen are receiving treatment at the clinic. «They all follow instructions very diligently and are invested in their treatment, says Iryna Semianova. – They rarely come in military uniform, especially those who were on the frontlines. It’s also clear that they seek genuine human interaction and warmth».

The doctor notes that assistance to servicemen is carried out in close cooperation with the laboratory Grukanov Digital Dental Lab, led by Oleksandr Grukanov. «Every order is completed in the shortest possible time, and you can rely on colleagues», Iryna adds.

Working with Dental Help UA naturally aligns with the clinic’s position and the team’s values: providing free care to restore the dental health of defenders.

Iryna also promotes the idea of establishing a Department of Bone-Septic and Reconstructive Surgery in Ukrainian military medical institutions. Since 2014, an initiative group including doctors, lawyers, economists, and volunteers has been advocating for this project in Ukraine. «We developed a business plan to create military departments according to NATO standards», explains Iryna Semianova. «We want doctors from the U.S. and Europe, from universities like Johns Hopkins (Baltimore), to come to Ukraine so we can work together and improve the professional skills of modern Ukrainian medics».

Today, she notes, Ukrainian medical professionals already have numerous successful cases in bone-septic and reconstructive surgery. «Our patient, Ivan Demkiv, a septic orthopedic-traumatologist and microsurgeon, has a surgical department opened for him at the Odesa Rehabilitation Sanatorium and already has many successful cases. Ivan Demkiv has operated on and saved all the wounded from Azovstal. He gives hope for a quality life to our soldiers, restoring limbs even in the most complex cases», shares Iryna Semianova.