Project Saving Smiles

Project Saving Smiles reduces the prevalence of tooth decayin underserved children and remove barriers to learning.

This is accomplished by providing dental screenings, dentalsealants, fluoride varnish, and oral health education free of charge targetingHoustons at-risk 2nd graders who are enrolled in schools with 50% or morestudents on the Free and Reduced Lunch Program.

The 2001 Dental Needs Assessment in Harris County revealed 68%of 2nd graders had untreated decay. It is known that children who suffer fromoral health problems cannot learn well and miss days from school. According tothe 2000 Surgeon Generals Report, more than 51 million school hours are losteach year due to dental-related illness. Additionally, children who experiencepain from tooth problems are likely to be distracted and unable to concentrateon their schoolwork.

Since its inception, Project Saving Smiles has provided dentalscreening to 98,800 students and applied 217,878 sealants. The Project also provides oral healtheducation free of charge to pre-k, second grade, middle school and high schoolstudents enrolled in a free or reduced lunch program across Houston.

We very much appreciate your interest in Project SavingSmiles and look forward to having you volunteer with us!

You may get registered in our database so that you may lookand add yourself to the schedule. See the link below.

Registerto volunteer

If you should have any questions, please feel free tocontact us via email at [email protected].

Best regards,

Volunteer Coordinator Team