Sonrisas Dental Health

Sonrisas Dental Health is a nonprofit, local, community-based, safety-net oral care provider with a vision of a dental home for all – particularly those who face barriers to care. With your help, Sonrisas provides both clinic-based care and school and community-based dental screenings for children and seniors, allowing early detection, intervention, and access to quality oral health care and education. 

A proud participant of Coastside Gives for the past 6-years, Sonrisas Dental Health is raising $25,000 to provide school and community-based dental screenings for children and adults on the Coastside. Sonrisas has provided free dental screenings and oral health education for over 20 years to neighbors in need, with a focus on recent-migrants, high-needs children, those newly eligible for Medi-Cal, and the elderly.

In one of the richest counties in the nation, an estimated 100,000 of our neighbor's face difficulty affording basic needs. Equitable, culturally competent health care is a critical social determinant of health, and for these neighbors, oral care is even harder to access than medical care. This is crucial, because poor oral health is clinically linked to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, ailments that also disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities. 

What does a lack of access to high-quality, affordable, and culturally competent oral care and health education mean?  

• A barrier to educational success: 30% of children ages 6-12 miss school due to oral health issues. For children facing financial, language, and other barriers, these preventable absences can set the stage for the cycle of poverty to continue. 
• A barrier to economic mobility: 1 in 4 sickness-related work absences are due to dental illness, representing a direct roadblock to economic mobility. 
• A barrier to dignity in aging: Nearly 1 in 5 seniors are missing all their teeth.

On the Coastside, 1,300 low-income children and adults receive dental screenings, oral health education or clinical care annually at Sonrisas. This fiscal year, we are set to serve over 8,000 low-income neighbors county wide.

We are proud to be part of our vibrant community and honored to have the opportunity to serve everyone regardless of physical, cognitive or financial barriers. Please join us in raising $25,000 for oral health screenings and health education for the children and adults facing barriers to care by making a contribution today! 

What our patients have to say about Sonrisas...