Published: Feb. 19, 2026 at 4:42 PM CST
SIOUX CITY (KTIV) - The CDC says 1 in 4 children, ages 2 to 11, have untreated cavities in their baby teeth.
February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, and on Thursday, Feb. 19, in Sioux Center, Iowa, dentists offered their services for free to help address issues with kids’ baby teeth.
Work is being done now to prevent bigger dental problems later in life.
“Give Kids a Smile” is a collaboration between Sioux Center Dental, the Sioux Center Community School District, and the local i-Smile coordinator.
On Thursday, dentists tried to see as many as 30 students dealing with dental issues.
Dr. Trevor Kuiper says he and his staff have been able to serve underprivileged children, as this is the third clinic for Sioux Center Dental.
He said, “We’re primarily focusing on are pain relieving services or services that will treat their permanent teeth or their adult teeth. So most of the kids, it’s between fillings, cleanings, sealants, or extractions of abscessed teeth.”
Sioux Center Dental’s values are faith, family, and service, making sure anyone who sits in these chairs is taken care of no matter what their circumstances.
“Service is one that we really value because we feel like we want you to be able to trust in the care that you’re getting from us. We want to earn that by providing you with service that you can tell. We want you to walk out the door feeling like we really went above and beyond to take care of you,” said Dr. Kuiper.
In 2025, their second annual “Gives Kids A Smile” helped 29 students in Sioux Center and provided $23,217 worth of dental treatment free of charge for the families.
Dr. Kuiper explained, “This does not cost the students anything. This is purely a donation for us as a way of giving back to our community and helping these kids out.”
According to Dr. Kuiper, it’s ideal to keep up with preventative dental care at a young age because dental problems don’t get better with time.
“As they get worse, the amount of effort it takes to fix them goes up exponentially. So if we can catch them at an early stage, we can try and keep it to less intervention,” he added.
If you need the reminder, don’t skip brushing or flossing.
“Oftentimes, we underestimate how much sugar is in a lot of the things; the more we can minimize that, the healthier we can keep their baby teeth, which means the healthier their adult teeth will be,” said Dr. Kuiper.
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