We are medical students at the University of Pittsburgh, and every week we work with Pitt Street Medicine to care for our unhoused neighbors. Twice a week we walk through Pittsburgh neighborhoods handing out food and supplies to people living on the street. We see the same faces again and again, and over time our visits become relationships. We learn names, we listen to needs, and we meet people exactly where they are.

Over and over, we have noticed the same problem: many people we serve have lost most or all of their teeth and cannot eat foods we provide like hard granola bars or apples. For someone living on the street, losing teeth is more than an inconvenience. It shapes what they can eat, how nourished they are, and how they face the world each day. And it goes beyond food. A full smile is part of how a person carries themselves, how they walk into a job interview or meet someone's eyes. Giving someone their teeth back gives them a measure of dignity and confidence that reaches far past the next meal.

So we asked a simple question: what if we could give them their teeth back?

Our idea is to 3D print custom dentures for unhoused patients, completely free of charge. It starts with a quick 3D scan of a patient's gums and remaining teeth, done right there on the street with a handheld scanner.

That scan goes to the UPMC 3D Printing Program, which has already approved this work and is excited to partner with us. There, the scan becomes a fully functional set of dentures, printed and ready in a matter of hours.

Together, with the Pitt Digital Dental Lab adding the clinical expertise to fit each patient, we can do the whole thing: scan a patient on the street, print their dentures, fit them, and follow up week after week through the same regular Street Medicine visits we already do. We have the people, and we have the technical capabilities. To grow this project, all we need is funding.