The Smile: Annual Report 2024
Newsletter • Annual Report 2024
Letter from the President
It is my honor to serve as President of the AAPD Foundation, working alongside dedicated individuals who share a vision of equitable access to dental care for all kids. I am filled with gratitude and determination for our mission.
In my daily work as a pediatric dentist, I see children who are fortunate enough to receive specialized dental care because of their circumstances – their parents’ employment, their zip code, their family’s resources. Yet I am acutely aware that for every child in my chair, there are many others who lack access to even basic dental care. This disparity exists not because of any choices these children made, but because of systemic barriers and social determinants of health that continue to impact access to care.
While the need for services grows, so does our resolve to meet that need.
Dr. Mario Ramos
This challenging reality drives our mission. With the support of our donors, in 2024 we’ve helped thousands of children receive essential dental care they would otherwise have gone without.
Looking ahead, we face both challenges and opportunities. While the need for services continues to grow, so does our resolve to meet that need. With your continued support, we can expand our reach and impact, ensuring that more children receive the dental care they deserve.
Thank you to Immediate Past President, Dr. Doug Keck, whose leadership has continued our growth. Thank you to our donors for supporting this vital mission. Every smile we’ve restored and every child we’ve freed from dental pain represents a step toward our vision of quality dental care for all children.
Thank you for your support!
We are grateful to the generous donors who have made sustained multi-year pledges! Donors making President’s, Gold, Platinum, and Legacy Circle contributions are recognized in perpetuity while those individuals making Leader’s Circle gifts are recognized for their generosity during their pledge period.
Access to care grants
Putting our mission into action
Since 2010, the AAPD Foundation has been supporting healthy smiles and nurturing children’s health by awarding Access to Care Grants to clinics across the country.
What is an Access to Care Grant?
Access to Care Grants, funded by donations to the Foundation, enable non-profit, community-based clinics that provide care to children who would otherwise go without. Children in need can have rampant decay and serious infections – some have never seen a toothbrush. Too many live in constant pain.
AAPD Foundation has given many organizations the opportunity to think outside the box and expand their reach to improve the smiles and overall health of the children in their community.
Dr. Tonya Fuqua
Dental Integration Director, Cook Children’s Hospital
Our grant recipients are on the front lines doing what they do best: caring for kids
What do we fund?
Anesthesia
Translation Services/Bilingual Staff Member(s)
Dentist Chairs
Transportation
Salary
Educational Pamphlets
Dental Instruments
At-Home Care Products
Car Rides
Grantee locations
Access to Care Grants enable community organizations to provide dental care to children who would otherwise go without. Our Grantees are the people who put our mission into action.
Since 2010, Access to Care Grants have supported 161 organizations in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
2023-2024 Grantees
Previous Grantees
Access to Care Grantees
2023–2024 One Year Access to Care Grantees
One Year Access to Care Grants support local clinics that demonstrate a commitment to providing comprehensive oral health care to all children. Any organization that meets the application requirements can apply. The Foundation is proud to support:
Current Three Year Access to Care Grantees
The Foundation believes in nurturing communities. Improving dental health care access requires time, innovation, and solutions as unique as the children they serve. We invite our most impactful One Year Access to Care Grantees to apply for Three Year Access to Care Grants.
Access to Care Grantee Workshop
Since entering the access to care space in 2010, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Foundation has issued more than $10.3 million in grants and commitments supporting healthy smiles across the U.S.
Based on grantee progress reports, monitored success measures, annual application rates, inquiries from the field and other factors, the Foundation’s Grants and Programs Committee recognized in late 2022 that its network of more than 1,000 organizations was in a state of flux beyond the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Following internal discussion about child oral health needs, our processes, and our network of eligible applicants – Who do we want to serve? What do we need to fix? How can we better connect with those providing the care? What are the barriers to care? – the Committee arrived at a simple conclusion: Let’s ask them.
We listened to our grantee network, increased grants to $30,000 and have new grant guidelines!
Representatives of nonprofit dental organizations from across the country met to discuss challenges in providing dental care to children in poverty. Their key finding was straightforward: the demand for dental services in underserved communities far exceeds what these organizations can currently provide with their existing staff, facilities, and resources.
The workshop provided a networking platform for grantees to learn from each other while providing Foundation leadership with a greater personal understanding of those providing care for the underserved. As a result, the AAPD Foundation Grants & Programs Committee and Board of Trustees revamped the grant guidelines for a more streamlined application process and increased One Year Access to Care Grants to up to $30,000 each.
Children deserve equal access to dental care
Right now, they don’t have it. In fact, half of the children in elementary school have cavities. Cavities in young kids can harm their health, development, and quality of life – both in the short-term and over time.
51 percent
1 in 10 children
51 million
*Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Beverly A. Largent Access to Care Innovator Award
The winner of the 2024 Beverly A. Largent Access to Care Innovator Award sponsored by Elevate Oral Care is Dr. Nicole McGrath-Barnes, Founder and CEO of KinderSmile Foundation.
The Access to Care Innovator Award rewards an individual whose passion and commitment has led to creative solutions and problem-solving, allowing them to do more with less to provide dental care to underserved children. The Foundation is honored to recognize Dr. McGrath-Barnes as this year’s honoree. She established KinderSmile Foundation in 2007 to provide underserved children and families with access to comprehensive dental care and educate children and their families about the importance of dental hygiene, envisioning a future where every child has access to a dentist and dental diseases are eradicated.
Aside from providing access to care to children, people with developmental disabilities, perinatal mothers, adults, and seniors through KinderSmile Foundation’s various programs, she has been a voice in the community, advocating for systemic change on a state level to make oral health a priority.
Dr. Michal Herman
COO of KinderSmile Foundation
Dr. Nicole vowed to not only make a difference in ensuring that all children have access to oral health care, but that a change in policy will be made for future generations. She is a tireless advocate of raising awareness of oral health inequities for racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically disadvantaged children, and is a leading NJ voice for reducing these disparities.
Dr. McGrath-Barnes’s colleagues speak of her selflessness, infectious passion, continued vision and drive, and heart. Whether it’s a child’s life-saving dental treatment, providing care and education for families through KinderSmile Foundation, or advocating for systemic change on a state level, Dr. McGrath-Barnes leaves no stone unturned in her quest to ensure equitable access to dental care. The AAPD Foundation is proud to support Dr. McGrath-Barnes!
Will you join our alliance?
Visit the Donate page to become a Healthy Smile Hero.
We have big love for little teeth
Our compassionate, hardworking team of volunteers from across the country who love nothing more than bringing smiles to the faces of the families we support. Here are the people who keep our organization running!
- Front row, left to right: Mira A. Albert, DDS, MBA, MS, Trustee; Harlyn K. Susarla, DMD, MPH, Trustee; Shari Kohn, DDS, Trustee; Mario E. Ramos, DMD, President; Oariona Lowe, DDS, Vice President; Teresa Fong, DDS, Treasurer; Kerry Maguire, DDS, MPH, Trustee
Back row, left to right: Kenneth C. Thomalla, CPA, CLU, CFP, Trustee; John Rutkauskas, DDS, MBA, CAE, AAPD/AAPD Foundation Chief Executive Officer; Scott Smith, DDS, MS, AAPD President; Deven V. Shroff, DMD, Secretary; Douglas B. Keck, DMD, MS, Immediate Past President; James D. Nickman, DDS, Trustee; K. J. Beauchamp, DDS, Trustee; Thomas Ison, DMD, AAPD President Elect Not pictured: Claudia A. Cavallino, DDS, Trustee - Charles S Czerepak, DMD; Kerry Maguire, DDS, MPH; Mira A. Albert, DDS, MBA, MS; Teresa Fong, DDS
- Harlyn K. Susarla, DMD, MPH; Shari Kohn, DDS
- From left to right: Kyle Malone; Celeste Stewart; Brianna DeWitt; Jasmine Williams; Paul Amundsen, MNA, CAE, CFRE
Meet our compassionate team
Get to know the people who keep the organization running.
