On February 20th, 2025 a local dentist will donate his facilities, skills and staff to provide free dental care to children in need. Services provided include oral exams, x-rays, preventive (cleaning, fluoride, sealants) and restorative (fillings, tooth extractions) care. Due to the need for signed permissions and other documentation, Sioux Center Dental’s Give Kids a Smile event can only see children who were registered in advance after being screened and identified by the i-Smile program.

This charitable event is hosted locally by Sioux Center Dental, owned and operated by Dr. Trevor Kuiper, DDS. The event is a spinoff of the American Dental Association’s National Give Kids a Smile Day. Sioux Center Dental partnered with the local I- Smile™ Coordinator, and the Sioux Center Community School District to plan and coordinate details of the event. This will be the second annual Give Kids a Smile event to be hosted in Northwest Iowa, and Sioux Center Dental hopes to continue this event moving forward. 

As part of the screening and selection process, over 150 screenings were completed at the Sioux Center Community School District, for students who had not had their mandatory dental screenings for school enrollment in Iowa. The screenings were completed by the iSmile Coordinator Dawn Ericson, RDH. She identified over 70 students who have active dental infections, or have reported dental pain during the school day. 

“Seeing and hearing how so many of the children in our own community are struggling to live their everyday lives without pain is something that inspired us to want to give back in a tangible way,” said Dr. Trevor Kuiper, DDS of Sioux Center Dental. “These are kids who live and play right in our back-yards, and it is hard to think about the difficulty they must face every day in dealing with untreated pain or infection. We have been blessed with the opportunity to help those who can’t help themselves, and we appreciate all the volunteers who have given their time and effort to make this event a success.”

Promise Community Health Center is the only dental clinic in the area that accepts Medicaid, and they are currently working through a large backlog of patients due to recent transitions within their dental team. Dr. Kuiper and his team are aiming to help ease the burden for several families in Sioux Center.

Nearly 1 in 4 children, aged 2 to 11 years, have untreated cavities in their baby teeth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While poor diet and oral hygiene certainly play a role, cavities are actually caused by a disease called caries, which is five times more common than asthma. The National Institutes of Health report that 80 percent of tooth decay is found in just 25 percent of children, primarily from low-income families. 

“Sioux Center Dental’s Give Kids a Smile event can help some children get the dental care they need, but a one-day event will never be enough.” Dr. Trevor Kuiper said. Our event is aimed at helping children in our community who are currently struggling to eat comfortably or live their best lives due to oral pain. We hope that as we continue to do this event annually, there will be progress toward fewer children requiring serious dental care and that more children will be able to eat and sleep without tooth pain or infection.”