Woman to Watch
THE NAME OF Dr. Jullia Kinser’s practice, Smile Pleasant Hill Dentistry, which she opened in January 2023, couldn’t be more fitting. The Atlanta area dentist, you see, has much to celebrate.
Two years into her dental career, practicing in Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Kinser was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer. She was 29. With no family history of the disease, the news came as a shock. She endured aggressive treatment that year, and when she was finished, set her sights on opening a private practice. Yet she was soon dealt another terrible blow: a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia at age 31. “I was told I wouldn’t survive if I didn’t get a bone marrow or stem cell transplant,” she says.
The odds of finding a perfect donor match were long given her mixed ethnicity—she is half-Korean, half-Caucasian—but her care team found one. While she underwent treatment in Jacksonville, her family, who had relocated their dental lab to Lilburn, Georgia, took charge of constructing her future clinic next door. “While I was focusing on surviving,” she says, “my family kept on with the build in hopes I would be there.”
She’s now five years breast cancer–free and is approaching her third year in remission from leukemia. “After battling two cancers in five years, many have said that I’m unlucky. But I believe it was a blessing.”
Her tortuous health journey has given her perspective on what it’s like to be a patient, sick and in pain: “This reinforced my belief that there’s a need for compassion, and [dentists are] in a position where we can truly help others.”
It has also enabled her to approach dentistry with a high level of empathy when treating (for example) mothers who have neglected their own dental health and teens from challenging backgrounds who need extensive care. “Going through [my own medical] process, I’m aware that we all have our own stories.”
Today, Dr. Kinser is focused on building a practice that empowers others, whether they’re patients, team members or direct colleagues. “We live in a beautiful world,” she observes, her voice filled with warmth. “We sometimes lose sight of that, but I’m here to show what a blessing it is.” Smile Pleasant, indeed.
