San Diego Dental Health Foundation

The San Diego Dental Health Foundation (SDDHF) was founded in 1992 by dentists in the San Diego County area to provide funding for dental health education and access. Since 1992, SDDHF has provided funding for a wide variety of projects that increase access to dental care. SDDHF provides toothbrushes and oral hygiene supplies to communities in need. SDDHF offers scholarships to students entering dental schools. SDDHF provided funding for the opening of a Dental Hygiene School at Southwestern College, which led to enhanced access to dental hygiene. SDDHF provides volunteers for community events and programs such as Share the Care, Give Kids A Smile, University of California, San Diego Free Dental Clinics, Project Homeless Connect, and the Women’s Resource Fair. Through these events, SDDHF volunteers provide free dental care to under-served members of our community.

At Veterans Village of San Diego, SDDHF built and fund a dental clinic to provide full-mouth restorations to formerly homeless vets.  This organization is a major funder of the Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center in at their downtown location, and helped to found and continually support the Children’s Dental Health Association and their kids’ dental clinic in Golden Hill and their outreach program in underserved communities.  SDDHF supplies volunteer dentists to UCSD’s Student-run Free Clinic Project at their Lemon Grove, Pacific Beach and Downtown locations. 

SDDHF also conducts dental screenings and hygiene at Project Homeless Connect each year.  Each February, SDDHF also runs a Give Kids a Smile event at several community clinics, providing sealants and fluoride varnish in coordination with the county’s Dental Health Initiative/Share the Care and First 5 San Diego.  In an effort to support dental professionals through the academic pipeline, SDDHF also provides community service scholarships to deserving students entering dental school and scores of our dentist members provide pro bono dentistry for children and the disabled or medically compromised.

San Diego Dental Health Foundation is committed to continuing to advance Live Well San Diego into the future by advocating for better oral health for all communities and providing oral health education through partnerships.