As we close another remarkable year, we are filled with gratitude for the partners and donors who make our mission possible.
Together we reached a record number of children and caregivers with engaging oral health education—more than 1.4 million lives empowered to build healthier smiles. Yet the need remains great. While our education programs have flourished, access to dental care has not fully rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, with the sharpest service declines in rural communities. These gaps remind us why your continued partnership is so vital. Our dedicated staff and nationwide network of clinics, educators, and volunteers are proving how much a small but determined team can accomplish. As we look toward our 20th anniversary in 2026, we’re committed to closing these gaps—expanding access to care, empowering more families, and ensuring every child has the opportunity to grow up with a healthy smile.
2025 overall impact
Building Healthier Smiles Nationwide.
Together with our partners, sponsors, and donors, this year we helped more than 1.4 million children and caregivers learn how to prevent tooth decay and access the care they need for healthy smiles. On average, our Dental Resource Program member clinics provided clinical services and oral health education to 42% more families compared to last year. These safety-net providers delivered preventive and restorative care, and oral hygiene instruction to communities that usually lack such resources. At the same time, our educational programs broke records by empowering more than 1 million children and caregivers through awareness campaigns, classroom resources, and free materials that made oral health education fun and accessible. These efforts demonstrate how collaboration creates change—reaching children in clinics, schools, and community centers across the country. Every smile restored, every lesson learned, and every act of generosity brings us one step closer to a future where all children can grow up healthy, confident, and free from dental pain.
gifts in action
Bringing Care to Rural Classrooms.
In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, many families in rural Virginia struggle to find a dentist within driving distance—or one who accepts Medicaid. At Augusta Regional Clinic, long wait times, transportation challenges, and workforce shortages make accessing care even harder for low-income families. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the clinic’s mobile dental unit continues to reach children where they learn. Each year, the program provides free preventive care and oral hygiene supplies to more than 1,000 students across local elementary and middle schools.
Product donations—from toothbrushes and toothpaste to essential clinical supplies—help offset expenses and keep this lifeline running at full capacity. Because of these contributions, the team can focus more resources on treatment and education, ensuring kids in rural communities don’t fall behind in oral health simply because of where they live. Together, we’re closing the gap for families who deserve healthy smiles and a brighter future.
A Smile for Ellie.
At a school in Daly City, California, a six-year-old named Ellie waited nervously as classmates lined up for dental screenings. Born with special needs, she had never found a dental home willing to treat her. Her caregiver explained that brushing was a daily struggle and that Ellie often resisted any oral care at all. When the Ravenswood Family Dentistry team— supported by America’s ToothFairy—entered the room, Ellie’s anxiety softened. After watching her friends bravely complete their screenings, she decided to try. The team gently examined her and discovered several untreated cavities.
To encourage healthy habits, the dental team gifted Ellie a bright new toothbrush, along with a colorful activity booklet and bookmark provided byAmerica’s ToothFairy. What began as a moment of fear turned into one of confidence and joy. Ellie’s story is one of thousands made possible through our donors’ generosity. Each oral health kit, each donated product, each act of kindness helps children like Ellie overcome barriers to care—transforming anxiety into trust and giving every child the chance to smile with pride.
DENTAL RESOURCE PROGRAM (DRP)
Expanding Access. Restoring Smiles.
Our nationwide network of safety-net dental clinics continued to make significant gains. Together, our DRP partners provided clinical services and oral health education to 310,114 children and 105,780 parents and caregivers—a 42% average increase over last year’s participation rates. This growth reflects the dedication of clinics that stretch limited budgets through in-kind support to make care possible. From toothbrushes and fluoride varnish to burs and filling materials, product donations offset vital supply costs so providers can focus more funding on treatment, staff, and expanded services.
Mobile and school-based programs also thrived, reaching 104,974 children (an 18% increase over last year) with preventive care and education delivered where kids live, play and learn. From rural Virginia to urban Los Angeles, our members continue to break down barriers to care, empower families with knowledge, and build trust in communities that need care the most. Each child served represents more than a statistic—it’s a healthy smile restored, a pain relieved, and a life changed.
HERO PROGRAM IMPACT
Breaking Education Records.
In FY25, our education programs reached more families than ever before. Because of generous donors and sponsors, over 1 million children and caregivers learned how to care for their smiles through our educational initiatives and national awareness campaigns. From free classroom resources and caregiver guides to creative community outreach, our programs made learning about oral health simple, fun, and accessible. These achievements were powered by the support of Align Technology, title sponsor of our HERO Program, whose generosity keeps all our downloadable materials free for educators and families.
Our awareness campaigns, My Smile Matters and Share Your Smile, spread the message of prevention to households around the world, inspiring better daily habits through engaging materials and social media content. Meanwhile, our hands-on programs, Smile Guardian and Smile Drive, placed educational materials and oral hygiene supplies directly into the hands of families who need them most.
FOUNDATION UPDATE
Five Years After COVID: Rebuilding Access, Renewing Hope
When COVID-19 forced the world to shut down, it didn’t just close classrooms, it also closed the doors to care for millions of children who rely on safety-net dental clinics. For low-income families, those closures meant more than inconvenience. They meant pain, lost sleep, and delayed treatment for cavities that worsened with time. “We wrapped up our fiscal year in June 2020 wondering how many of our program members would survive the shutdown,” recalled our executive director, Jill Malmgren. “Some clinics never reopened. Others are still working to rebuild patient volume five years later.”
Before the pandemic, our program members provided clinical care and oral health education to more than 530,000 children and over 250,000 caregivers each year. By comparison, in FY25 those numbers remain far lower—310,114 kids and 105,780 caregivers. While we celebrate progress since the crisis, the gap underscores how far we still have to go.
Innovation in the Face of Disruption
At the height of the shutdowns, many clinics pivoted to virtual learning and community outreach. In 2020 alone, more than 500,000 children and caregivers learned how to prevent tooth decay through the clinics’ new online initiatives—an unexpected bright spot in an otherwise challenging year.
America’s ToothFairy launched creative digital campaigns to help kids learn about brushing, flossing, and nutrition from home. At the same time, our team launched an online resource library that continues to grow. This year nearly 745,000 people used these online resources (a new record!) Since 2020, more than 2.8 million people have learned about oral health with tools from our free resources page—a lasting success born from a time of crisis.
The Road to Recovery
Even with these innovations, the lingering impact of the pandemic remains clear. Many of our DRP member clinics still face shrinking support and rising costs. Sadly, some have even permanently closed. The result is a sharp decline in children receiving direct dental care compared to pre-pandemic years. Fewer cleanings, screenings, sealants, and restorative treatments mean more children at risk of pain, infection, and a lifetime of oral health problems. As we reflect five years later, one truth endures: education alone cannot replace access to care. With your support, we can help our clinics restore services, rebuild patient volume, and bring preventive care back to the children who need it most.
Together, we can finish what the pandemic interrupted and give every child the chance to grow up with a healthy, confident smile.
Looking Ahead: 20th Anniversary
In 2026, we’re celebrating 20 years of helping children access the dental care and education they need to grow up healthy and confident. What began as a small network of compassionate providers has become a nationwide movement improving oral health equity for millions of children.
Yet as we celebrate two decades of impact, new challenges threaten that progress. Cuts to healthcare spending, rising costs, and even the removal of fluoride from some community water supplies are putting vulnerable families at greater risk. For too many children, preventive care and basic oral health tools are still out of reach. That’s why our 20th anniversary is not just a celebration—it’s a call to action. Throughout 2026, we’re partnering with corporations, foundations, and individuals to provide critical resources to nonprofit dental clinics and to help them reach their pre-pandemic impact.
Together, we can ensure the next 20 years bring even brighter smiles and a healthier future for every child!
Contact Jill Malmgren at 704-350-1600 or jmalmgren@ncohf.org to partner with us.
When kids grow up with healthy smiles they are less likely to miss school, are more confident to share their smile with others, and have greater job opportunities as adults. America’s ToothFairy exists to remove barriers to dental care
We can’t do it alone.
Since 2006 we’ve helped more than 16 million kids and caregivers access oral health services.