Smiles on Wheels serves smiles to seniors at Jackson Boos Recreation Center

The Jackson Boos Recreation Center offers recreational services and programs for people of all age groups, but it’s the city’s main gathering place for the Active Living Program, which provides low-cost programming to adults 50 and older. Julie Weisbrod, the Active Living Program coordinator, creates a robust calendar that includes everything from chair fitness to tai chi to kayaking.

She’s also responsible for bringing Smiles on Wheels to the rec center.

“Truthfully, I was at a book club with Lisa, and we started talking about the program, and I thought it’d be a good fit for my community,” Weisbrod says. The “Lisa” she’s referencing is Lisa Taylor, the office administrator for Smiles on Wheels, which administers the Serving Smiles to Seniors program.

Smiles on Wheels travels to community centers and care homes throughout the state, providing older adults with oral health assessments, oral health education (including suggestions on nutritious meals and snacks), individualized dental care kits and referrals to local dentists. 

Weisbrod’s attitude is simple when it comes to pushing boundaries, living well in old age and programming new classes: Why not try it? She applied that same mantra to the screenings offered by Serving Smiles to Seniors. Weisbrod was one of the first people in line before classes started.

“I have a dentist, but it’s good to know if anything is going on,” Weisbrod says. “Plus it shows the adults who attend my classes that I’m willing to do anything I’m asking them to do.”

For this event, the Smiles on Wheels team is five people strong, and they have multiple tables set up for screenings and oral hygiene giveaways in the corner of a large gym. Everything is festooned with fun, tropical-themed Mylar balloons.

Each person who’s offered a screening receives a goodie bag full of oral health supplies, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, denture cleaner and a rinse to address dry mouth, along with a list of local dentists who provide no- or low-cost care. One of the program’s goals is to connect every older adult who needs one to a dental home.

The Delta Dental Foundation has provided grant support to Smiles on Wheels and the Serving Smiles to Seniors program for the past six years, and its reach continues to expand.

In 2024, the program touched more than 450 lives at 25 locations. According to Smiles on Wheels’ survey data, nearly 80% of participants are insured by Medicare, which does not generally cover dental care, and 34% of respondents rated their dental health as poor or fair. Despite those numbers, 61% of survey respondents said they’d visited a dentist or dental hygienist within the past year.

Theresa Meyer, coordinator, has been with Smiles on Wheels since 2020. In addition to the Serving Smiles to Seniors program, she’s also a part of the Smiles on Wheels team that administers the SEAL! Michigan program, which provides no-cost dental sealants to kids, and Kindergarten Oral Health Assessments in multiple counties. Seniors, she insists, have different concerns.

“Although many of the seniors we see do tell us they have a dentist, we find that many of them are taking medications that cause dry mouth, which can increase the risk of cavities, and they may not know how to address it,” Meyer says.

She also notes that denture care is a key component of the oral health education Smiles on Wheels provides. “We see people who don’t clean their dentures regularly or don’t take their dentures out, which is a recipe for inflammation or infection,” she says.

They’re also fighting against the idea that it’s “normal” for teeth to fall out as people get older.

One woman, Tammy, who showed up early for Movement Matters, a no-impact cardio program, is trying to challenge that idea in her own family.

Tammy (who requested to use only her first name) asked if she could take a picture of the Rethink Your Drink display that Smiles on Wheels had set up on a folding table. The colorful display highlights the amount of sugar in a variety of common beverages, such as juice, sports drinks and soda. The goal, of course, is to encourage people to understand the connection between sugar and cavities and to consume more water.

“I want to show this to my kids and grandkids,” she says. “I keep telling them that the soda they’re drinking is no good for their teeth, but they just don’t listen. I want them to be able to keep their teeth when they’re my age, because they don’t have to lose them.” Although initially hesitant about the oral health screening because she has a dentist, Tammy decided to stop by after class and get assessed. Just in case.

Before each fitness class kicks off, Weisbrod turns her mic over to a member of the Smiles on Wheels team for an oral health education session. Although they go over oral health basics—brushing twice a day for two minutes, flossing once a day and visiting the dentist regularly—they also focus on denture care and adaptive brushing solutions, which can help people who have difficulties with grip or balance.

“It’s a great turnout,” Meyer says. “We don’t always have the opportunity to deliver education to groups this big.” The first two classes of the day boast have more than 35 attendees each, and another group of older adults stops by for the potluck.

Smiles on Wheels takes advantage of lunch, too, playing oral health bingo with themed prizes, such as electric toothbrushes.

As she was leaving, one woman, who preferred not to be named, pulled down her lower lip to display a dark stain along her first and second premolars.

“See that?” she asks. “I have a dentist, but I wanted them to take a look and let me know if they thought it was decay or just a stain. They reassured me that it seems like staining, which means I don’t need to go back to my dentist right now. I’m relieved.”