Give Kids a Smile

A young patient high-fives the tooth mascot during Ross Hall’s Give Kids a Smile event.

Mallory Jones smiled as she watched her 6-year-old daughter bounce into the waiting room of the pediatric clinic at the East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine.

Jones had driven more than an hour to bring her daughter to Ross Hall’s first-ever Give Kids a Smile event in February, where she was one of 24 patients to receive care, from cleanings and x-rays to extractions and other procedures.

“It was totally worth it,” Jones said as her daughter bounded over and flashed a bright smile. “We moved here from out of state and didn’t have a dentist, so I definitely wanted to get her teeth checked out.”

The Give Kids a Smile® (GKAS) program, launched nationally in 2003 through the American Dental Association Foundation, provides underserved children with free oral health care. Each year, approximately 6,500 dentists and 30,000 dental team members volunteer at local GKAS events to provide free oral health education, screenings, preventive and restorative treatment to over 300,000 children.

The dental school has participated in the event in the community in the past, but this was the first event hosted in Ross Hall. The event was co-sponsored by the East Central Dental Society.

Jones first heard about Give Kids a Smile event through Rachel Stewart, dental hygienist and supervisor of the School-Based Oral Health Prevention Programs. That initiative was launched in Bertie County in 2019 through a $400,000 grant from the Duke Endowment and in Jones County in 2023. The program places ECU hygienists in select schools to provide oral health care and preventive education to children. The program offers comprehensive dental exams, X-rays, cleanings, fluoride varnish application and dental sealants to all public elementary and middle school children.

“I received a letter home saying there was going to be a dentist on site doing teeth cleanings and checkups on the kiddos, and I was all about that,” Jones said. “Then I received a note home saying that she had started a few cavities and needed to get that taken care of.”

Students, residents, faculty and staff provided care for 24 pediatric patients in February during the Give Kids a Smile event in Ross Hall.

For Jones, the event was more than an opportunity for her daughter to receive dental care — it was about establishing a connection with the school for all four of her children to eventually have a dentist with whom they are established and comfortable.

One of her daughter’s teeth became infected and needed to be extracted.

“We were very hesitant, but Rachel was with us every step of the way,” Jones said of Stewart. “She squashed all of our concerns and fears and told us what to expect. I’m so thankful for this, for having ECU there saying, ‘We’ve got you.’”

Sarah Herring, a fourth-year dental student from Fayetteville, was one of the providers on hand to assure parents, guardians and children during Give Kids a Smile. She said the experience was rewarding, based primarily on the need for care she has witnessed during her rotations.

“During my rotations in the past year, a lot of the kids we saw had never seen the dentist before,” Herring said.

More than 60% of children between 6 and 9 years old have some form of dental disease, said Dr. Michael Webb, chair of pediatric dentistry and orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics at the dental school.

“Give Kids a Smile provided a way to raise awareness of the need for dental care in disadvantaged children,” Webb said. “It also provides a way to engage the community dentists and have them have another way to partner with the school. Our hope is that the interaction between the community and school will continue to grow and provide more opportunities for everyone to work together.”

Fourth-year dental student Sarah Herring provides care to a pediatric patient during the Give Kids a Smile event in Ross Hall in February.

Dr. Rudy Oxendine ’21, PED ’23 was drawn to pediatric dentistry because it aligned with his own personality.

“I’ve always joked that I’m just a big kid; I love being in an easygoing environment,” he said. “When you’re a medical professional, you have to be serious about things and you have to do a great job, but you also have to create an environment where kids are comfortable.”

Oxendine, a specialist in pediatric dentistry at Eastern Orthodontics & Pediatric Dentistry in Greenville, watched as children and parents were escorted to operatory bays by students and residents.

“The most important part is being able to reach kids and family members who have access-to-care issues,” he said. “Being able to give back to the community is huge. What the school has done here is really phenomenal.”

Additional Give Kids a Smile events have been hosted by some of the school’s community service learning centers across the state, from Spruce Pine and Davidson County to Ahoskie.