Dr. Christian Alegria

 

I was born in Orange, CA but grew up primarily in rural North Central Ohio for most of my life.
My parents immigrated to the United States from El Salvador in the late eighties.
During my school years, I was always interested in science and art and that is where I excelled
the most. From about the 6th or 7th grade, I had decided that I wanted to be a dentist because
that seemed like the perfect union of those two passions.
After I graduated high school, I attended Xavier University and received my degree in Natural
Sciences. I had the opportunity to go on the Guatemala mission trip my sophomore year at
Xavier, and it was a life changing experience to say the least. I learned so much about what it
means to provide compassionate, holistic care from Dr. Lauri and Dr. Richard and it has greatly
influenced the way I practice today. I went on to attend the Medical University of South Carolina
for my dental training and I now practice general dentistry in Charlotte, NC.
In 2020, Dr. Lauri had reached out to alumni of this service trip to see if there would be any
interest in going to Coban. I was able to return, this time providing dental care and working with
other amazing professionals to continue the mission of building capacity in Guatemala. The
experience truly felt like I had come full circle and it felt so special to see interdisciplinary care
coming together. I am so grateful to be part of this incredible team and work with the next
generation of healthcare professionals.