Give Kids A Smile Provides Free Dental Care to Children Nationwide

With more than two decades of experience as a dentist, Dr. Angela Crincoli provides care and education to underserved children as a member of the dental staff for Kindersmile Foundation in New Jersey. Dr. Angela Crincoli also volunteers her time with Give Kids A Smile, a national program launched by the American Dental Association (ADA) to provide children with free oral health services. 

Give Kids A Smile kicks off each year with an annual event held on the first Friday in February. During these events, dentists and volunteers offer oral treatments, screenings, and education to underserved children at no cost. The program is a crucial component of the ADA’s Action for Dental Health, a community-based movement focused on ending America’s dental health crisis. Give Kids A Smile specifically addresses three areas of the movement: caring for people with untreated diseases; enhancing the public safety net; and fostering disease prevention and education. 

Implemented nationwide by the ADA in 2003, the program began as a single event hosted by Dr. Jeff Dalin and Dr. B. Ray Storm in St. Louis. They held the event in a run-down dental clinic scheduled for demolition and treated nearly 400 children. Its success led the ADA to adopt the idea and transform it into a nationwide movement. Since its inception, the program has treated more than 5.5 million children. Thousands of dentists and volunteers participate every year.