Care Philosophy: “To provide the highest standard of care to every patient that I serve. To impart oral health education to patients for improved outcome. To collaborate with dental specialists and physicians according to a patient’s specific needs. To continue taking dental courses in order to improve the services that I provide to my patients.”

Dr. Jane Ogembo is a dentist with a specialty in dental public health. Before she joined the Community Dental Center of Mount Desert Island Hospital, Dr. Ogembo served as the only dentist at St. Croix Regional Family Health Center in Princeton, a rural Maine community near the Canadian border. Having grown up in a small village in rural western Kenya, Dr. Ogembo understands how challenging it can be for residents in isolated areas to receive essential care, and in 2018, she applied for and received a grant from Maine Health Access Foundation towards developing and improving oral healthcare access for her patients at the St. Croix Regional Family Health Center.

Dr. Ogembo received her DDS from the New York University College of Dentistry, then attained an MPH degree from Boston University School of Public Health, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Dental Public Health from Boston University School of Dental Medicine. Having studied biology in college, she was inspired to pursue dentistry by a trip to the dentist at the age of 20. At that time, she had secured dental insurance through her job at a bank, and thus she found herself in a dentist’s chair–for the first time in her life. She discovered that her dentist was just as fascinated by her, as she was by him. They discussed what she might do with her college degree, and he suggested that with her interest in biology, she might consider becoming a dentist. That formative experience led her to a career devoted to patients who, like her, may not have had access to oral healthcare because of financial or geographic circumstances. As a member of the American Dental Association and the American Public Dental Health Association, she enjoys participating in their work to advance the profession and improve dental services to the public.

Dr. Ogembo joined the Community Dental Center in November 2019. “I came to MDI Hospital to take care of the oral health needs of the communities that it serves,” she explains. “My interest is to collaborate with other primary care providers to improve the health outcomes of our patients, and to expand quality dental services to all patients regardless of their ability to pay.  All children should have a dental home so that good oral health habits are developed as early as possible.”

In her free time, Dr. Ogembo says, “I am an active member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and am currently involved in helping a small rural community in western Kenya build Mlimani Adventist Church at Ringa, in Homa Bay County.” She enjoys traveling and has visited interesting places in the USA, Europe, Middle East,  Africa and the Caribbean Islands.

In a recent interview with Pine Tree Watch, a journalism website, Dr. Ogembo discussed her work on a personal level–harkening back to the origins of her own distinguished career: “In the process of interaction, you learn who I am. I learn who you are,” she said. “It’s a wonderful learning curve. It is important to me to make a difference, whether it is small or fundamental in the lives of people, especially those who are in need. I strive to be someone who is empathetic, who wants to understand people and the particular situation they are in.”