Living with a limited income and modest health insurance, Army veteran and San Diego-based truck driver Joseph Dudas found himself among the hundreds of thousands of local residents who skip routine dental visits. To cope with the throbbing pain from infected teeth, he resorted to pulling them out himself, leaving pieces of enamel sticking out from his gums.
“It didn’t go well,” he said. “I just resigned myself to being one of those guys who didn’t smile a lot. I was too embarrassed to go out.”
Thanks to Cura Smiles, a San Diego Foundation-supported nonprofit dedicated to providing dental care to people in need, that’s no longer the case. Cost-free treatment, including dentures, has restored both his smile and his confidence.
“It changed my life,” said Dudas.
Supported by a $100,000 grant from the San Diego Unity Fund—an SDF-led initiative to stabilize nonprofits during a time of federal funding cuts and shifting priorities—Cura Smiles is set to impact hundreds of additional lives this year alone. The award is allowing the nonprofit to double clinic capacity and provide free dental care for uninsured adults on more days each week.
“We are thankful the Unity Fund is supporting Cura Smiles to help restore smiles,” said Christine Passmore, Cura Smiles Executive Director. “It’s inspiring to be part of a rallying cry to provide sustainable and compassionate care for our fellow San Diegans. Good oral health is crucial to systemic health, self-esteem, mental health, and overall well-being.”
Based inside a City Heights church, Cura Smiles operates with a small paid staff and a large roster of volunteer dentists and support personnel who focus on urgent care, extractions, dentures, and preventive services like cleanings and fillings. The nonprofit grew out of founder Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick’s extensive volunteer work in Nicaragua and his determination to address similar unmet needs in his own community. Its core motivation is to relieve pain and infection, restore smiles, and transform lives by improving both oral and overall health for people who have gone years without dental care.
Veronica came to Cura Smiles in 2022 after avoiding dental care for nearly 20 years due to early traumatic experiences, she lost several teeth and made it a habit to hide her smile from others. Insurance was too pricey to afford. She found hope through Cura Smiles, where volunteers restored her teeth and confidence.
Today, she smiles freely, enjoys eating again, works outside the home, and volunteers at her church. “This program has changed my life,” Veronica said. “I didn’t think I’d smile again. I didn’t think that I’d eat or enjoy certain foods again. This program is so needed by people like me, that really have no hope of getting their smiles fixed because they can’t afford the procedures.”
According to a UCLA Center for Health Policy Research study, more than 200,000 San Diego County residents live in areas with a shortage of dentists serving Medi-Cal-eligible and low-income populations. About 65% live in communities that face barriers to accessing dental care. Black and Latino communities across the region continue to experience disproportionate barriers to dental care and dental insurance access, the study says. About 400,000 residents are estimated to be impacted by state and federal changes to Medi-Cal. Among seniors with Medi-Cal (Denti-Cal), 72% did not receive an annual dental visit in 2023, indicating significant barriers to care even with coverage. And, as of 2023, nearly 1 in 5 San Diego residents reported delaying or skipping dental care specifically due to cost.
Even among veterans like Joseph, access remains limited: 85% of those eligible for VA medical care do not qualify for dental benefits, according to an analysis from CareQuest and the American Institute of Dental Health.
“My dental benefits at work are not that great, and getting this done myself was going to cost thousands of dollars that I don’t have. It was just a blessing when Cura Smiles said they’d take care of the cost. I was in tears,” he said.
