Smile of Hope dental program expands

A Whitefish nonprofit has expanded its program to connect a wider range of low-income women with free dental care.

Soroptimist International of Whitefish, which is part an international women’s organization that works to advance the status of women, formed its Smile of Hope program in 2008 to provide restorative dentistry.

The program began with a mother-and-daughter dentistry team, two patients and $6,000 to treat women’s teeth. This year, the program has 12 dentists and $20,000 to spend on 10 women.

Joanie Sorensen, a registered nurse and Soroptimist member who initiated Smile of Hope, said this year the program expanded to include not only low-income women who are the head of their households but also women who are disabled and unable to work.

“These aren’t women who just couldn’t afford to go to the dentist last year,” Sorensen said. “These are women who maybe have never seen a dentist, who put food and bills first.”

She said the program has until June to find two more eligible participants. If successful, it will be the first time Smile of Hope reaches the 10-patient threshold.

Sorensen said the program was born from a basic need for restorative care. Other programs that provide dental care are able to only pull teeth but generally don’t go beyond that.

“I volunteered in a free clinic and watched people come to us with a tooth in a bed of pus. All we could do was pull it and send them on their way with antibiotics,” she said.

When the Soroptimists initially began the project, they were unsure how long it could last, because restorative dental care can be costly.

“One mouth can cost $10,000, which we quickly learned when we went over budget the first year,” Sorensen said.

The program shifted to offering a $2,000 scholarship to each recipient and negotiating with local dentists to match that contribution.

“We’re to the point where this program is staying; it’s growing and it’s giving women the confidence to go after the jobs they want and feel good about themselves,” Sorenson said.

When Jessica Skare of Columbia Falls applied for Smile of Hope in 2015, 10 of her teeth were so infected they needed to be pulled and replaced, she said.

“I used to go to the dentist as a kid, but when I hit my teens it was on me and I never prioritized it,” Skare said. “Then I had kids, and they would go in before I ever would.”

Skare, 33, works at Pizza Hut. She tried to hide her smile from customers because her teeth were either missing or rotten after roughly 20 years without going to a dentist and 21 years of smoking.

The program accepted her on one condition: She had to stop smoking.

“After one slip-up, I went cold turkey,” Skare said. “It was worth it — it was so bad strangers thought I smoked crack because of how I looked.”

Dr. Neal Buffington, a dentist based in Columbia Falls, said he began helping Smile of Hope patients four years ago.

When he first opened his practice, he was surprised by the large number of untreated dental problems. He consistently saw mothers who would bring their children to appointments but couldn’t afford checkups for themselves.

“I saw this need, but felt like I couldn’t do a thing,” Buffington said. “This program not only prioritizes moms who are victims of their own neglect, it holds them accountable to stay healthy.”

Buffington started with one patient on a $2,000 scholarship. Then it grew to two patients in one year.

When patients such as Skare, who needed repairs that outgrew $2,000, Buffington matched the program and Smile of Hope looked for other scholarship options, including Skare’s employer, Pizza Hut, which contributed $500.

“This is a joint effort between the community, doctors and the people who receive the support,” he said. “I hope it just keeps growing.”

Soroptimist International of Whitefish generates money for Smile of Hope through its Thrift Haus at 303 First St. in Whitefish. All proceeds from the second-hand store are invested back into the community through donations to other nonprofit groups that help women and girls and a number of scholarships for graduating high school seniors and college students. The club also helps women achieve their goals through the Live Your Dream program that provides money for further education.

For more information about Smile of Hope, call 406-862-3669 or 406-862-7328.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.