Dr. Justice Pilgrim – SAM’s Newest Staff Member
Make it stand out
SAM is very excited to welcome Justice Pilgrim, DDS, to our family of providers as our first dedicated, full-time dentist. He is in the process of leaving an 11-year career as a Major in the Army that included assignments in Louisiana, Kuwait, Italy, Hawaii, and Maryland. He joined the Army after college and attended the New York University College of Dentistry, one of the top 10 dental schools.
Combining Military Attributes/Values with a Dedication to Servicing
Dr. Pilgrim can trace his life’s trajectory to two influences. While on a church mission during college he confirmed his desire to dedicate his life to something that was directly service oriented. Originally his thought was that it would be in the medical field, but after spending some time working at a family practice office he realized that the medical field didn’t offer the lifestyle he wanted.
“The doctors were grumpy. They resented the decade they spent in medical school and didn’t like practicing. This wasn’t reassuring to me. They mentioned the dental field might be a good option to consider. I asked a friend’s father who was a dentist about his experiences and he had nothing but rainbows and sunshine to share.”
He learned that the dental profession would offer the lifestyle he desired, one that allowed enough free personal time to spend with his family, while still providing a valuable and needed service.
Some of the most influential people he met growing up were in the military. He especially admired their deep commitment to service, and their personal attributes of leadership, loyalty, and discipline. He found that joining the Army while going to dental college would fulfill his goals.
“I wanted to be a part of people who have a mission, who are out to achieve something that is heroic.” He is proud that he could “get to serve those soldiers and be part of that. All healthcare workers are heroes too – sacrificing time and putting themselves in the line of danger to help other people and I enjoy being part of an organization that are all part of doing something bigger. That is my favorite part of being in the military.”
Being an Army dentist proved to be fulfilling. One of the greatest benefits it offered was the opportunity to experience life outside of Montana. That’s when he realized that growing up in Bigfork, he had been living among a group of homogeneous people but that it’s not unusual to actually live among diversity. He first realized this during his 2-year missionary service in Florida, and again when he was stationed in Italy.
“Living in Italy, not speaking the language, etc. taught us a lot about the very complex world we live in and what it means. There I felt (in a small way) what it was like to be a minority. It opened up conversations at home about what it means to include people, living in a different culture, and why culture can be different and all be good…It gave us all an understanding of diversity, culture, and the disparities that come with that.”
Dr. Pilgrim had a similar experience serving in Hawaii where he fell in love with the native culture and made great friends with people from his neighborhood and church.
He is “excited to build on that. Coming home to Montana is exciting – I want to empathize and synthesize with the people in my home state.”
He wants to become an advocate for them, especially SAM patients who are Native Americans or live on the Reservations.
Embracing SAM’s Mission
Dr. Pilgrim didn’t know how long his military career would be, but planned to stay until it was no longer a good fit for his family. Therefore, he kept an open mind about opportunities and possibilities after the Army. While serving in Europe, he met the commander of the Royal Netherland Army Dental Command whose goal was to develop a mobile dental clinic for their armed forces. This inspired the possibilities that something similar to could beneficial in his home state.
Being a native Montanan “I was aware of communities that have to go a long way to get access to stuff.”
Seeing this dentist’s achievement of creating a mobile dental clinic “was an epiphany” which continued to linger in his mind over the next several years. While listening to a podcast on mobile dentistry he heard SAM’s founder, Crystal Spring, talk about her work. Dr. Pilgrim contacted her and Crystal recommended attending an upcoming dental conference where she would be speaking. Serendipitously, this all happened at a juncture where he had to decide whether to recommit to another contract with the Army. “My wife and I decided it was time to go home” and SAM provided the perfect venue for him to fulfill his goals of being of service and the postponed goal of working in children’s dentistry.
“I just like working with kids. I personally have 7 kids. They are more fun to work with and are more vulnerable.” Dr. Pilgrim’s “best role model is my 3-year-old daughter. Her innocence and curiosity about life are a great example!”
Dr. Pilgrim and SAM’s missions are remarkably similar – they focus on bringing oral healthcare to those in need, and, as opposed to some traditional dental practices, think the emphasis should be on prioritizing care rather than profitability.
“Most providers have to focus so much on what to bill, how to bill, and what procedures bill the most. The emphasis is drawn away from the patient. Part of this necessity is because of the costs of medical/dental training of school, the overhead to practice is constantly going up, administrative costs, and insurance is paying out less. To some degree, medical providers are just trying to survive. The focus is being drawn away from the patient because of a health system that requires compensating for increasing costs. Focusing on ‘how am I going to make money’. New procedures can’t be delivered when the mantra is what is not more deliverable but what will be profitable. That’s what drives providers. The system is broken in this way. The providers should have to be less focused on just trying to survive, but what is best for the patient. There needs to be a complete paradigm shift.”
The paradigm that SAM and Dr. Pilgrim believe is the way to move forward is to maximize minimally invasive, new treatments and creating a system-wide change. He believes that while profits are what drives most people’s behavior, the use of mobile clinics and minimally invasive techniques can be shown to be profitable as well as being better for the patients.
“If using this model can set a precedent that it is efficient, then it can be generalized to other dental and medical practices, especially if you integrate the two. SAM would be one step closer to where healthcare needs to eventually go.”
Part of creating a new working model, especially for the patients SAM currently works with, children and many indigenous communities, is to accept and be sensitive to cultural diversities. This is one of the lessons learned from his time in the Army. The current standard is to focus only on treating symptoms as they emerge rather than the person as a whole.
“What Crystal has developed is a model where new advances in preventative dental oral healthcare are easier to provide to underserved communities. They are cheaper, but more effective in the long term, in reducing overall costs to create an efficient healthcare system. We need to change the existing mindset that focuses on just drill and fill. Our primary responsibility is prevention. This should be profitable for the dentist and would benefit the patient.”
Dr. Pilgrim is excited to have returned home to Montana and to find a new professional home that allows him to focus on the things that are important to him: his family, faith, service to the community, and proving the efficacy of a system that is patient focused by relying on preventative and minimally invasive measures.
“I like the problem-solving aspect of patient care. Finding a challenge and engineering something specific that will repair it. I enjoy the intimate encounters with patients; alleviating their fears and breaking down barriers. Barriers can be both personal/individual or on a system-wide scale, and I love the possibility of making an impact across that entire spectrum.”
Dr. Pilgrim is excited to start the next chapter of his professional journey. He’s planning on maintaining his ties with the military by joining the reserves, but is “excited to get back to the things I choose to do and enjoy. To follow my visions."
