Giving Back to the Community

Give Kids a Smile

Give Kids a Smile - St. Louis (GKAS) is a not-for-profit organization that provides free dental education, preventative care, and restorative care for low-income children. This event occurs every year in February and October in St. Louis. Doctors and staff at our office volunteer, giving their time to give back to our community. GKAS is always looking for volunteers, and you don't have to be in the dental field! They are always looking for kind, responsible people to accompany the children through the dental process, check patients in and out, and more.

Halloween Candy Buy Back

Pediatric Dentistry of Sunset Hills sponsored their second Halloween Candy Buy Back and it was another huge success! The event is promoted to help prevent tooth decay in children as well as to support our troops overseas. In 2010, we collected approximately 1,600 pounds of candy in one week. In 2011, we collected over 1,000 pounds in one day. In 2012, we collected approximately 1,200 pounds of candy in two days. With the help of our local USO all the candy and letters were shipped and distributed to our troops.

Honduras Mission

Honduras is a small, poor country in the Western Hemisphere. It is slightly larger than Tennessee, but instead of the 3,408,064 people that live in Tennessee, this little country is home to 7,833,696 people. As of 2009, 59% of their population is below the poverty line, and 39.9% of their population are children ages 0-14. With an average income of $2,580 (the U.S. average is $37,500), the people there cannot afford healthcare, and in a lot of cases, it is not even offered. Although Honduras makes up only 17 percent of Central America's population, it is home to 40 percent of the region's malaria cases. The country also has high rates for malnutrition, AIDS, and tuberculosis.

Once a year some of our doctors and staff donate their time to go to Honduras with the Washington Overseas Mission. While there, they provide quality dental care for the underprivileged children that otherwise wouldn't have it. The conditions are rough, the weather even rougher, but in the end, it's worth it. As an office, we have been participating in this mission for 20 years. See more at www.overseamission.org