Gratitude Means Giving Back

Drs. Johnson and Risbrudt have always had a strong drive to give back to the community — and to the world. That's why the entire office ran in the Susan G. Korman Run For The Cure, and it's why we strive to do things, small and large, for our community whenever we get the chance.

It's easy, when you're a business, for cynical people to think that anything public you do as a service is some sort of self-centered act. In 2010, when Dr. Johnson gave the world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen, a smile makeover at no cost, several people called it a publicity stunt — but nothing could be further from the truth. There were other specialists, labs and professionals that were involved to make it happen.

The fact is — Dr. Johnson's wife Christa saw a documentary on Kosen and heard that, because of his pituitary disorder, his jaw had literally outgrown his teeth. He needed profound dental work, but he was from a poor village in Turkey and couldn't afford it. Dr. Johnson understood that there was an opportunity to give service to someone who had a profound need and no means, so he stepped up to the plate.

In 2010 Dr. Johnson lead a team of USC students on a mission trip to Honduras. In 2011 he lead them on a mission trip to El Salvador and in 2012 to Guatemala.

Every once in a while we reach out to a patient unexpectedly with a card or another gesture because it is in our hearts to do so. When we receive a response then it confirms why we do what we do. We give from our hearts and our hopes is that our patients know and feel it all the same. But that's hardly the only way that our office works to give back to our community — we also love to go the extra mile for our patients. It's one thing to participate in charitable events or give our services to those in need — but sometimes giving back can be as simple as reaching out to touch the people we meet that need moral support.

Every once in a while, we get a response like this one, and it just redoubles the fuzzy feeling we get when we reach out to someone. Jason's grandmother had just died, and we got together and sent him a condolences card that we all signed — a small enough act, but it sparked something in him that made him write back.

We don't do it for those letters that come back, but we always love it when they do. It's how we know that we're on the right track — giving back to our patients, our community, and our world.