Our largest and most far-reaching project, Smiles for Kids® (SFK) (originally founded in 1991 by Dr. Gerard Ortner and Dr. Don Rollofson) was adopted and expanded by the Foundation in 2003. It partners member dentists with local schools to screen and provide dental education to thousands of children each year. From the screenings, underinsured and underserved children are treated by member dentists and their teams on SFK Day each February. More than half of those children are then “adopted” for further pro bono treatment – including specialty and orthodontic treatment. Each year, thousands of dollars in pro bono treatment is provided to children in the five county SDDS area. Smiles for Kids is making great strides toward reversing the disheartening statistics that plague the children of our community.

Since 1991, Smiles for Kids has:

  • Served more than 522,000 children
  • Treated 17,400 children
  • Provided more than $15.6 million in free dental services to thousands of children
  • Provided over 1,220 children with pro bono orthodontic treatment

Support Smiles for Kids

This program serves as much more than simply a means for providing treatment—it draws awareness to the issues of poor oral health and access to care, and it fosters outreach, education, and partnership within our community to take responsibility for this problem and help improve it! Through Smiles for Kids, we can make a difference and give the children of our community what they truly deserve—a smile to last a lifetime.

Thank you to our Smiles for Kids

Grantors & Donors!

Sponsors & Grantors

Cash Donations

  • Gordon & Mary Ann Harris Fund
  • Karen Harris
  • William J. Codiga Family Foundation
  • Cookie Lawrence

Supply Donations

  • CSUS Pre-Dental Club

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How You Can Help:

  • Become a Smiles for Kids Sponsor or Volunteer
  • Make a Monetary Contribution
  • Make a Supply Donation
  • Donate your time as a site volunteer for Smiles for Kids Day!

Download Dental Health Activity Sheets from ADA »

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Puppet Show

SDDS, SDDF, and Sutter Health teamed up with Puppet Art Theater to bring more dental education into our local schools, and now they’re upgrading the service even more! We are now offering to have the show “Clay and the Sugarsaurus Rex” live-streamed to students! With the conversion to so much online learning, it is important to adapt and make sure children are still getting the education they deserve.

To check out this great new service, head to ToothFairyPuppetShow.com! There you can learn more about the content taught in the puppet show, how schools can schedule a show, and even watch a small preview of the show! We’re happy to announcing this new option for our puppet shows!

Thanks very much to Puppet Art Theater!

Puppet Show Sponsor

Sutter Health Logo

Clay and the Sugarsaurus Rex

A show developed for Pre-K through 1st graders. To book the show head to: toothfairypuppetshow.com. See a preview of the show below.

The Adventures of Sir Enamel

A show developed for K through 4th graders. To book the show head to: sirenamel.com. See a preview of the show below.