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SAIO 50 for 50: Dr. Felicia Fontenot (Frizzell)

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This Week's Spotlight:  Dr. Felicia Fontenot (Frizzell) ('03, B.A. Human Biology)

Dr. Fontenot (Mescalero Apache) is the first Mescalero Apache dentist, and works in Mescalero and Ruidoso, New Mexico for Presbyterian Healthcare Services. Prior to her current position she was the Deputy Dental Director at Tséhootsooi Medical Center on the Navajo Nation. Dr. Fontenot’s mission is reducing the high burden of oral health disease among Native Americans and using her public health skills to create wide-scale oral healthcare prevention programs for Native children. Dr. Fontenot is committed to mentoring other Natives interested in oral health careers and hopes to see fellow Mescalero Apache tribal members becoming dentists and working together to provide high quality care for their people.

As an undergraduate, Dr. Fontenot co-founded and co-led CORE, a club focused on powwow dance, led regalia-making classes, and was a member of the Powwow Committee. More recently, she was named Grand Marshal of the 2019 Mescalero Apache Ceremonial and Parade in recognition of her achievements and contributions to her Tribal Nation. Dr. Fontenot also serves as the Secretary of the Executive Board of the Society of American Indian Dentists and has been a member since 2015.

In addition to her Stanford degree, Dr. Fontenot holds a Masters in Health Science from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a D.D.S. from the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. 

Dr. Fontenot's Interview