T’s Smiles is a nonprofit dental clinic created and designed to cater to the oral health needs of the underserved community surrounding the West Michigan area. We understand the oral health disparities and how profound of an issue exists in the Grand Rapids area. Despite major improvements in oral health for the population as a whole, oral health disparities exist for many racial and ethnic groups, by socioeconomic status, gender, age, and geographic location.
Our goal is to improve quality of life by creating healthier smiles and healthy lifestyle doing so in helping to bridge the gap by eliminating health disparities while providing affordable oral healthcare that includes education, routine exams, radiographs, cleanings and much more. We bring over 39 years of professional dental oral health disease preventive experience and we want to share our passion and knowledge of dentistry with our surrounding communities.
Overall, non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians, and Alaska Natives generally have the poorest oral health of any racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Tooth decay in children is the #1 leading disease among children; the greatest racial and ethnic disparity among children aged 3 to 5 years and aged 6 to 9years is seen in Mexican American and non-Hispanic Black children. Untreated tooth decay in adults—Blacks, non-Hispanics, and Mexican Americans aged 35 to 44—experience untreated tooth decay nearly twice as much as non-Hispanic Whites. Adults aged 35 to 44 with less than a high school education experience untreated tooth decay and experience destructive periodontal (gum) disease nearly three times that of adults with at least some college education. Almost half of the adult population is living with an active disease that has never been diagnosed. Forty-two percent of U.S. adults aged 65 and older have some form of periodontitis, while 59.8% have periodontitis.
T’s Smiles’ personalized, in-depth educational oral health plan is designed with each patient in mind. We offer same day emergency cleanings for patients suffering from pain associated with periodontitis (gum) disease as well as anyone in need of immediate oral healthcare. We will help each patient achieve their best optimal oral health when working with our professional team of experts who are passionate, dedicated, and here to partner with other locals to help bridge the gap and eliminating dental disparities, providing a safe, clean clinic to the community, creating healthier smiles with immediate access to dental hygiene care.