About Us
Our Mission
To ensure access to quality dental care and other health-related services for the underserved in South Central Wisconsin and beyond.
Our History
More Smiles Wisconsin (MSW) was founded in 2009 by two area dentists, under its previous name, Madison Dental Initiative. The clinic began as a volunteer organization whose sole mission was to provide dental care to those in need.
During the clinic’s infant years, care was provided one evening per week via volunteer dentists equipped with a mobile unit, a portable x-ray, and donated dental supplies. Through the implementation of Medicaid billing, grant writing, and foundation/community support, MSW is now a five operatory dental clinic occupying over 2,000 square feet of space on Madison’s east side. The clinic is open full-time and employs a dental team to provide care. MSW still utilizes and relies on volunteerism to help offset the costs of providing charitable care.
In 2024, after nearly 15 years of being located inside of the Salvation Army shelter, MSW relocated to Mendota Street, roughly 3 miles east of the old location. MSW’s long-standing partnership with the Salvation Army did not end but is simply on hold while the Salvation Army gears up for reconstruction of its own building. Due to space limitations and need for growth, MSW made the temporary move to 1320 Mendota Street in March of 2024. We are anticipating that we will return to cohabitating with the Salvation Army again to provide services by 2028.
Where We Are Now
To date, over 10,000 individuals have accessed care at the MSW clinic, we continue to provide care to those most in need and offer as wide of a range of services as we can, given insurance and cost barriers. The services we most commonly provide include cleanings, exams, fillings, extractions, root canals, and limited crowns.
We work to immediately address the needs of our patients then work to offer education and support for their oral health needs. Thanks to generous donors and grant support, we also provide high-quality oral health supplies for at home care to support continued care outside of the clinic/appointment space.
To learn more about the people involved with this work, please see our Staff and Board of Directors pages.
