Humanities and Oral Health Justice: Thinking Bioethically Through Annie

Visual art, music, narrative, and performance have long shaped public consciousness around justice, dignity, and care. For this reflective workshop and discussion we center on the musical Annie, set in 1933 at the depths of the Great Depression, as a cultural lens for examining oral health justice. The song “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile” becomes our ethical anchor: a cheerful radio jingle sponsored by toothpaste, proclaiming that a smile is life’s great equalizer. Yet the story’s context exposes the contradiction, during a period of mass poverty, discriminatory policy, and limited access to care, a “beautiful smile” was a privilege unavailable to millions, including children like Annie and her fellow orphans.

By treating Annie as a humanities text, we explore how media, music, and narrative reveal the moral tensions between aspiration and reality, between institutional ideals and lived experience, and between the promise of the New Deal and the inequities that persisted [and continue to persist] in oral health. We also foreground how class, disability, and race shape access to care, dignity, and social belonging. This multidisciplinary session uses Annie to illuminate how stories shape ethical imagination, how cultural narratives influence public perceptions of dental care, and how providers can reflect on their own responsibilities toward oral health justice today, even exploring moral distress experienced by providers who witness inequities they cannot fully resolve. The session culminates in a reflective dialogue on how humanities‑driven inquiry can inspire contemporary advocacy, community connection, and institutional repair.

Questions? Email chelsey.patten@cuanschutz[dot]edu