It has been said that, “your smile is your personal welcome mat.” Protecting a healthy smile requires daily regimens and regular professional maintenance. This reigns true for our servicemembers who must always maintain a level of readiness in all areas of health.

Donisha Williams, a dental hygienist at Naval Branch Health Clinic (NBHC) Albany Dental Clinic is a retired Navy corpsman first class who joined the Albany team about six months ago as a civilian. Williams is a native of local town, Baconton, Georgia, who takes pride in her prior military service of 20 years and being a wife and mother of two daughters. “I graduated from Mitchell Baker H.S. in 1996 and joined the Navy a few years later in 2001. I think that was the best decision I’ve ever made in my entire life, and I have no regrets at all,” said Williams.



During her military career, the Navy sent Williams to dental hygiene school for two years where she obtained her associate degree. This spearheaded Williams’ career as a dental hygienist. Then, in 2015, she went back to attain her bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene.
NBHC Albany is located on Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany. Williams said, “There are roughly 240 patients on base. We only service active duty, and it’s mainly Marines with a little bit of Navy, Army and Air Force, but not too many.”

Providing services in a smaller setting allows for better individualized care and Williams attributes their high readiness levels to teamwork. “It’s a small clinic setting, and the patients come to their appointments. Lt. Jessica Mitchum and I work together as a team.” said Williams. “Once Mitchum provides the patient’s exams, they are sent to me to have their hygiene taken care of. This can take a patient from a Class 2 to a Class 1, helping us increase readiness levels. Our readiness levels for dentistry are currently 99.1 percent.”

Williams loves her career path and being in an environment which allows her to continue supporting the mission of the military. “I want to do whatever I can do to support my command’s goals for readiness,” said Williams.