Ready, Set, Smile

It's Tuesday at 7:00 AM and a Ready, Set, Smile team - comprised of a dental therapist, a dental hygienist, a licensed dental assistant, and three community health workers - is busy setting up our portable clinic at Ascension Catholic School in North Minneapolis. We'll be there for the next two school days to treat about 90 students with preventive services including sealants and Silver Diamine Fluoride using noninvasive, decay-controlling techniques. We'll also spend time in their classrooms teaching them how to care for their oral health. 

This is all done at NO COST to the uninsured students or their families. We only accept Medicaid payments from the insured.

Without this portable clinic, most, if not all of our patients (over 3,000 total) would have NO ACCESS to dental care. Due to financial, language, transportation and/or knowledge constraints, these kids are left untreated - leading to the #1 childhood chronic disease - dental cavities. 

When kids suffer from the pain of a dental cavity, it leads to a lack of appetite, reduced sleep, and decreased school attendance. This, in turn, can negatively impact their mental health, self-esteem, and education. Many think of a dental cavity as a small problem, but if children are unable to find treatment, the small cavity has major, sometimes life-altering consequences. 

This is why we need your support. Your donation will keep our portable clinics operating at full capacity year-round.

AND....drumroll please...Southside Legacy will be matching donations until midnight on Nov 21. Whatever you donate today has DOUBLE the impact! With $50,000 we can add eight new partner sites. That will mean we can see about 500 additional students. Many schools request to become partner sites but we cannot currently add them without the proper funding. We need these gifts to say YES to new partnerships and students! 

At Ready, Set, Smile, our biggest goal is to prevent the problem rather than problem-solve the aftermath. Can we count on you to help us achieve this goal and help hundreds more children across the Twin Cities?