PennSmiles at Schools/Community Centers

Penn Dental Medicine is bringing healthy smiles to children throughout the Philadelphia community through PennSmiles, an oral health outreach program that travels to area schools, Head Start programs, and other neighborhood sites. Through classroom instruction and the use of the PennSmiles mobile dental van, faculty and students of Penn Dental Medicine provide:

  • Oral health education to children as well as parents.
  • Dental screenings and referrals for dental care.
  • Dental treatment on the PennSmiles dental van.

The PennSmiles dental van, a mobile clinic of Penn Dental Medicine, is fully equipped for on-site care, featuring two dental chairs and all the necessary equipment for dental examinations, x-rays, cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, and basic dental fillings. The services offered on the PennSmiles van meet the same high standards of quality maintained in all of the Penn Dental Medicine clinics and are provided by experienced dental faculty and students. In the last academic year, Penn Dental Medicine students and faculty logged 1,528 patient visits with 516 children in the PennSmiles program working at 23 different schools and community centers in Philadelphia.

Care Team

Public Health Dental Hygiene Practitioner Dentists
Donna Anderson, RDH, PHDHP Dr. Varsha Gogate-Bhuyan
Dr. Abby Peterson
Dr. Shabnam Sedgahat

Hours

PennSmiles travel to schools and community centers based on their hours of operation. Check with your school/community center to find when PennSmiles will visit.