Adventures in Dentistry: 2026-2027 WSDA President Dr. Brittany Dean
Dean at the Summit of Mt. Toubkai (elev. 13,671 feet) in the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco on a trip with the Mountaineers.
Quick Bites:
- Incoming President Dr. Brittany Dean has deep roots in the Pacific Northwest. Born in Vancouver, B.C., her parents moved the family to Port Hardy on the northern tip of Vancouver Island before eventually settling in the University Place/Tacoma area.
- Dean earned her DDS and MS in pediatric dentistry from the University of Washington. She completed her undergraduate degree in biology at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.
- A pediatric dentist, Dean splits her time between three different settings: Seattle Special Care Dentistry, Bellevue Pediatric Dentistry, and the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium in Sitka and its outlying rural villages.
- Volunteering is a core value for Dean. In dental school, she was heavily involved in ASDA, where she served as the 11th district representative on the New Dentist Committee and the new dentist liaison for the ADA’s Council on Dental Benefit Programs.
- Dean has served in a variety of WSDA leadership roles, including its DentPAC; Task Force on Recognition; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee; and WSDA News Editorial Board.
- She and her husband, Dr. David Dean, have been married for 15 years and reside in Edmonds with their five-year-old French Bulldog, Remy.
- Dean’s PNW roots are reflected in her hobbies, including hiking, backpacking, kayaking, reading and traveling.
As the saying goes, "Adventure is out there." And chances are, Brittany Dean is going to find it.
Whether commuting to one of her three professional positions as an intermittent provider in Alaska or lacing up her hiking boots for a quick weekend outing in the Cascades, Dean is most happy when she’s exploring.
“I’m always up for adventure,” said Dean, who used her time during the pandemic to double down on her hiking skills by joining the Mountaineers. She’s tackled numerous rigorous hikes ranging from the Seven Lakes Basin in Washington’s Olympic National Park to the Grand Canyon and the Atlas Mountains in northwestern Africa.
Her next undertaking, though, stands to take her on a different kind of adventure – as WSDA’s next president.
PNW Roots
Dean’s love of hiking, backpacking and all things outdoors stems from her Pacific Northwest upbringing.
Born in Vancouver, B.C., Dean’s parents, Beth and Eric Bensch, and younger brother Brockton, moved to the small town of Port Hardy (pop. 5,000) at the northern tip of Vancouver Island. They spent a few years there before making their way south, when Dean was in the fourth grade. Her father, a marriage and family counselor, was pursuing additional accreditation that required a move to Washington state.
Initially, he moved the family to Edmonds; they eventually settled in the University Place/Tacoma area.
An avid hiker and backpacker growing up in the Northwest, Dean joined the Mountaineers during the pandemic to deepen her orienteering skills. Here she’s enjoying a hike at Seven Lakes Basin in the Olympic Mountains/Olympic National Park.
Not unlike many other PNW kids, Dean’s adventuresome spirit was kindled by spending lots of time camping and hiking, especially with her father. She recalls a particular trip where she was allowed to pack her own bag and learned one lesson the hard way: cotton pajamas were a poor choice, Dean said.
When her father unexpectedly passed away in the spring of 2019, Dean was inspired to invest in building her own knowledge and skills when it came to being outdoors.
“Part of it is my dad always had those skills, and I always assumed that he would pass them on to me. I think that was probably his plan, too. But without him, I realized, ‘OK, I have to figure this out a different way’,” she said.
Fortunately, a solution could be found in a well-established local group with extensive experience for that sort of learning. Dean joined the Mountaineers, the outdoor recreation, education, and conservation group based in Seattle. The club hosts a variety of outdoor activities and provides classes and training for adventure seekers. Dean used her time during the pandemic to hone her skills.
“I’ve really enjoyed my experience with the Mountaineers, getting to learn navigation skills, survival skills, and just being able to do things responsibly and independently.”
Today, she is once again living in Edmonds, with her husband, fellow dentist Dr. David Dean. As luck would have it, the two met in dental school at the University of Washington.
“He was two years ahead of me in dental school,” she said. “One of his buddies was a TA for my restorative course and decided he should set us up. And he was right, but it was a very long process. We finally went on our first date I think maybe two weeks before he graduated from dental school. And it’s just gone on from there!”
On Sept. 17, the couple celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary.
“The day before the House of Delegates!” she added jokingly. “Super romantic!”
Left: The Deans enjoying the views together from South Lake Union. Right: Go Ms! The Deans at a Seattle Mariner's game.
The Deans are what might be described as a powerhouse couple in the world of Washington dentistry. Brittany is the incoming WSDA president and serves as a pediatric dentist at three separate practices in Seattle, Bellevue and Alaska. David, meanwhile, is director of oral medicine services at Fred Hutch Cancer Center and Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Dentistry.
While they’re both active people, he conceded that she is perhaps a bit more adventurous than he is when it comes to outdoor activities.
“She recharges when she’s outside,” said Dean. “The joke in our house is she has carte blanche to get anything at REI.”
All joking aside, Dean praised his wife for her consistent commitment to helping people – particularly helping younger dentists – find their passion in the practice of dentistry.
“She’s just really passionate about finding ways to help early career dentists connect with organized dentistry, or being happy in dentistry in general,” he said. “It took us both some time to figure out where we fit in dentistry. She’s very cognizant that there are different versions of how people can make a difference. She’s been an active mentor, always trying to help people recognize what excites them, as you work through the other stuff that’s harder.
"She's always up for an adventure! That's her attitude. There's no problem, no obstacle that seems insurmountable."
“Brittany is a natural leader. She’s an even-keeled person, and she’s been involved in advocacy and leadership roles ever since I met her in dental school,” he said. “She sincerely wants to ensure that people have a voice and can be heard in different arenas. That’s the leadership side of her,” he added. “One of the many things my family loves about her is that you can throw just about anything at her and she isn’t fazed at all, always working to find a better way to solve a problem.”
He added: “Whenever we go anywhere and they ask for a volunteer, I know Brittany’s hand will be shooting up. That’s just another fun thing about being married to her.”
“They are just a great fit together,” said Aaron Shearman, one of Dean’s closest friends from dental school, now a family practice dentist in Butte, Montana. “[Brittany and David] seem to do well at balancing different thoughts and opinions and have conversations from different perspectives,” he said. “Dave has a different approach, working at the [University of Washington] and the cancer center. We’ve had some great conversations, chatting about things we notice or observe in private practice or in teaching things,” said Shearman.
“Their personalities are really very complementary to one another.”
An Adventurous Career Path
Dean’s work schedule reflects her adventurous spirit every bit as much as her hiking and camping experiences.
After graduating from dental school in 2012, she went to work in community health, but she wasn’t sure that was the right place for her. At the clinic she saw both adults and children – and it was David who helped her zero in one key difference.
“I think Dave had said, ‘I noticed that when you first started at the Community Health Center, you saw a lot of kids, and you were really enjoying your days, but when you were doing exams on adults you weren’t enjoying it as much. Maybe you should pay attention to that,’” Dean said.
She did, and it turned out he was right.
“I really respect people who do beautiful aesthetic work – veneers, crowns, and bridges – but I never really enjoyed doing those. Any time I had to prep for a crown would be a high stress day for me. So maybe he was right.”
Dean completed her pediatric residency program at the UW in 2019 and found work in a private pediatric dental office.
It was during this time that she caught wind of an opportunity to work as a locum tenens in Alaska; a dental school colleague encouraged her to participate in a quick trip up north to check things out. Her father had just passed away; her plan to start her own practice had not yet gelled. The timing left her in search of something professionally and personally rewarding, but without the full-time commitment of a traditional dental practice.
“It’s great to go somewhere I feel needed and am benefitting the community. And learning more about these communities and their cultures has been very interesting, too,” she said.
That “quick trip to check things out” has turned into almost eight years: Dean spends one week a month in a handful of Alaska communities providing her expertise as a pediatric dentist.
Alice Nunes, managing dentist for the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, said Dean is a hit with patients and staff alike.
“Her patients love her!” said Nunes, who included her own two boys – ages 8 and 4 – in that fan club. “We’re so lucky to have her coming up. We’ve had other folks that don’t mesh well with staff or patients. She’s just very culturally sensitive – we have a very diverse population and she’s eager to learn from everybody,” she said.
“Brittany just has this easygoing demeanor with her pediatric patients. She teaches them all the procedures. She’s cool and calm and manages difficult situations with ease.”
Nunes recalled one year they both traveled to Miami to present some research at a conference. Dean suggested “a quick walk” after lunch to Little Havana.
It turned out to be a three mile walk in the Florida heat and humidity.
“She’s always up for an adventure! That’s her attitude. There's no problem, no obstacle that seems insurmountable,” recalled Nunes. “Sure, it was a longer walk than we anticipated but it was a cool adventure.“
The Next Generation
In some ways, Dean represents the next generation of dentistry for not just WSDA but the profession as a whole.
In her candidate statement to the membership before last year’s House of Delegates, Dean wrote:
“It’s time for a paradigm shift in the dental association and I am proud to say WSDA is leading that charge. Our association today recognizes that dentistry is a [very important] piece of who we are as humans. We are practice owners, employees, parents, children of aging parents, Little League coaches, food bank volunteers, marathon runners, learners, meditators, foodies, ceramicists…The dental association of today needs to recognize, celebrate, and support this fuller identity.”
Those thoughts are the result of years of volunteer work, first as a student and then as a practicing dentist.
"She really is genuinely altruistic, a look-for-the-good sort of person."
At the UW, she was active in the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) where she started out as a member of the association’s DentPAC and as an ASDA dental school class rep. She quickly rose in the ranks to serve on the ASDA board of trustees and was eventually elected national vice president.
Once she began practicing, she continued to lean into volunteer leadership positions within WSDA, starting as the association’s representative to the ADA’s New Dentist Committee.
“I had some time where I was just kind of focusing on my career and life stuff, and then I got to a point where I thought, ‘Yeah, I think I’d be interested in stepping up more,” she recalled. “So that’s when I ran for the WSDA Board.”
Looking ahead to her year as president, she’s taking a collaborative approach, looking to work more as a team of three with WSDA Past President Chris Dorow and President Elect Emily Hobart.
“I'm going to do some things a little bit differently than some presidents have done in the past, simply because there's a lot of responsibility for the president,” said Dean. “That’s maybe not such a big deal for somebody who's retired or owns a practice or works as an associate in a single office. I have much more flexibility in my situation than a lot of people do.”
Dorow believes in Dean’s vision and feels that she is the perfect person to lead the association into a new era. In fact, it was Dorow, who recruited Dean into running for the president position.
"She's the best standard bearer for the next generation."
“One of the things I appreciate about Brittany more than anyone else: she’s the most adventurous board member that I’ve ever met,” said Dorow. “She joined me on a trip to the Othello rodeo – it’s usually just legislators who join me in my booth. Brittany was the only WSDA member who took me up on the invitation.”
Reflecting on his wife’s path to the presidency, David Dean believes Brittany is a perfect fit for the role.
“She really is genuinely altruistic, a look-for-the-good sort of person,” he said. “Those are the type of people – with integrity – that you need in leadership. The idea of sitting at a table and going through all the bills and all the minutiae that are important to educate legislators? She’s energized by that,” he added.
“I really think that makes her ideal for a position like this – she loves this stuff and is super good at it.”
Left: Drs. Brittany and David Dean take a quick photo during a trip to Niagara Falls. Right: Winter camping on Mount Rainier as part of a course Dean took with The Mountaineers.
Thoughtful, Well-Prepared
Dorow also praises Dean for doing the necessary legwork to come into key meetings as an expert – and leave as a key messenger on the issue.
“After a decision is made, she can carry that message immediately,” said Dorow. “Brittany is a powerhouse. I think what you’re going to see out of Brittany Dean’s presidency isn’t Brittany Dean the president. I think what you’re going to see is Team Brittany Dean. I think she’s going to empower the next generation of WSDA leaders,” said Dorow.
“She sees the world differently from me, from Lisa [Egbert]. This group of leaders, and for the next two to three years, take their marching orders from the strategic plan that came from the membership.
“She’s the best standard bearer for the next generation.”
Jeff Parrish, himself a WSDA past president, shares Dorow’s assessment of Dean. He first met Dean when she was a student at the University of Washington. The two later teamed up on such projects as the Seattle/King County Clinic, and on a dental mission to Haiti.
“Brittany is a natural leader who preps her leadership with homework,” said Parrish. “I’ve seen that in her, especially with the [Seattle/King County] clinic. That’s her MO, in terms of understanding what she’s getting involved in and making sure that she’s got a command of what’s going on. I think that’s one of her biggest strengths.”
Finding Joy
Perhaps Dean’s biggest goal next year: Helping restore more joy to the practice of dentistry.
“When I gave my speech for president-elect, the theme of my campaign and my speech, I guess, was to keep dentistry joyful,” she said.
“Right now, I'm at a place where most days I go to work I love my job. And I didn't know if I'd ever get to a point where I would say that. And I think everybody should have that,” she said. “I think a lot of people feel like they can’t – like they’re trapped by insurance or student loans or – lots of things. If we can let people know that they’re not alone in those things and work to alleviate those burdens or make them more manageable, I think that would be great.”
"If we can let people know that they're not alone in those things and work to alleviate those burdens or make them more manageable, I think that would be great."
Dorow acknowledges this is a legitimate concern among dentists – and a concern for those entering the profession.
“This is a regular conversation [Brittany] and I have,” said Dorow. “Dentistry is an amazing profession, and we need a standard bearer – this is why Brittany is such an excellent choice for WSDA, and why so many people look to her for guidance and direction. She recognizes that our profession needs someone touting that. We talked about this early on in our conversation about her potentially serving as president,” he said.
“I think the concept of joy is a great thing to focus on. And she’s absolutely the right person to do it.”
Just don’t be surprised if the search for joy includes a few adventures along the way.
This article originally appeared in Issue 3, 2026 of the WSDA News.
