Dr. McKernan gives back while delivering Big Gay Smiles
washingtonblade.comRobert McKernan was serving as a Mormon missionary for two years in college, working in the Dominican Republic. He said that the most gratifying work came as a translator for the Dominican Republic dentists. “At the time, I was queer and closeted in this extremely religious community and I found dentistry to be exciting,” said McKernan.
So, when he returned to the United States he decided to pursue dentistry and has been giving people a smile they love for more than three years now.
After graduating from Touro College of Dental Medicine, he moved to D.C. and worked as an associate dentist for two different practices, before landing at Whitman-Walker Health.
Then, in 2021, he founded Big Gay Smiles. At his practice they aim not to, “treat patients like numbers, but family.” Opening a practice during the COVID-19 pandemic was quite a journey, he said. “We went from one chair in a rented dental office, to owning and purchasing our own commercial space and being open five days a week,” McKernan said.