Global Health Nexus, Summer 2001

On the Road With Smiling Faces, Going Places

Since its inception last year, the Smiling Faces, Going Places dental facility on wheels has become very popular with legislators. Among those who have welcomed the van to their districts have been New York State Assemblymembers Barbara Clark and William F. Boyland, New York State Senators Nellie Santiago and Ada L. Smith, New York City Councilmember Priscilla Wooten, and U.S. Congressman Edolphus Towns. Staunch advocates of NYU Dentistry for many years, these legislators all say that the Smiling Faces, Going Places van is filling a critical healthcare need in their communities.

For Senator Nellie Santiago, who represents the 17th District in Kings County, the ties that bind her to NYU Dentistry go back to her childhood, when she was a pediatric patient at the NYU Dental Clinics. The experience was so positive that she has returned often with her own children for their dental care.