A volunteer dental mission

A smile shouldn't depend on where you were born.

We bring free, real dental care, extractions, dentures, implants, whatever a person needs, to communities where a dentist has never been an option.

Join the mission Our story

Where we work · Jamaica

Where it all began.

One dentist for every 17,000 people. One trip that treated a thousand of them. This is our proven ground.

Read the Jamaica story

Where we work · Puerto Rico

Where we put down roots.

72 of 78 municipalities medically underserved, and the perfect logistics for our first permanent base.

Read the Puerto Rico plan

Where we work · Costa Rica

Where we grow next.

Rural and indigenous communities travel hours for care. Once the model is proven, we'll be there.

Read the Costa Rica vision
Scroll

Where there's a Will, there's a smile.

The need is real

Half the world lives with untreated oral disease.

0 billion
people live with oral disease, and three of four live in low- and middle-income countries
1 : 0
the dentist-to-patient ratio in Jamaica, where only about 6% receive any oral care
0 of 78
Puerto Rico municipalities are federally designated as medically underserved

Sources: WHO Global Oral Health Status Report (2022); Borgen Project; Jamaica Gleaner; HRSA / ASTDD.

Who we are

He didn't wait to be asked.

Will to Smile was founded by Dr. Christopher Will, a dentist who served in the U.S. Navy early in his career and has spent the decades since giving care freely and treating everyone around him like family.

When he saw the need firsthand, he took his entire dental office to Jamaica, carried the equipment into the community, and treated people who had never sat in a dentist's chair.

One trip proved it works. This organization exists to make it permanent.
~0
patients treated on that first mission to Jamaica
Founder estimate, first full-office mission
Proven ground

Jamaica

Where it all began.

Jamaica has roughly one dentist for every 17,000 people, and only about 6 percent of the population receives any oral care at all. The country is estimated to need around 1,200 dentists to meet demand, and the government has launched a national denture program, a sign of how widespread tooth loss has become.

This is where Dr. Will proved the model: the whole office, packed up and carried into the community, treating approximately 1,000 patients who had no other way to see a dentist. Extractions and dentures, our clinical strengths, are exactly what Jamaica needs most.

Help us return →
1 : 17,000dentist-to-patient ratio (public estimates have run as high as 1 : 34,000)
6%of Jamaicans receive any oral care
~1,000patients treated on our first mission (founder estimate)
1,200dentists estimated needed to meet national demand
First recurring base

Puerto Rico

Where we put down roots.

Puerto Rico carries a higher burden of oral disease than the US mainland, and 72 of its 78 municipalities are federally designated as medically underserved. Rural residents face long travel, specialist shortages, and a health system still recovering from hurricane damage.

It is also the ideal place to plant our first permanent base: a US territory means no passport for US volunteers, US dollars, and domestic shipping for equipment. Gear stays on the island between missions, so every return trip starts faster and reaches further. Base here, then travel out to the communities that need us.

Help us build the base →
72 / 78municipalities designated medically underserved (HRSA)
US territoryno passport for US citizens, US dollars, domestic shipping
Base + reachequipment lives on-island; teams return again and again
Expansion

Costa Rica

Where we grow next.

Costa Rica's universal healthcare includes dental care on paper, but dentists cluster in wealthy cities while the poorest rural areas have very few. Indigenous communities and migrant workers in remote regions travel hours for care and face language and transportation barriers on top of the distance.

It is safe, stable, and welcoming, with clearly identified underserved communities to reach. Once our Puerto Rico base proves the recurring model, Costa Rica is where it grows.

Help us get there →
Urban skewdentists concentrate in wealthy cities; rural areas go without
Hours awayremote and indigenous communities travel hours for basic care
Next upexpansion target once the recurring base model is proven

How it works

We don't send help. We bring it.

We base in a safe town, travel out to the communities that need us, and return until care becomes permanent.

We travel

Volunteer teams and portable equipment go where the need is, not the other way around.

We set up

Field clinics open in churches, schools, and community centers, real treatment rooms, on the ground.

We treat

Extractions, dentures, implants, fillings, whatever each patient needs, free, no bill, ever.

We return

Permanent, equipped locations mean care continues long after the team goes home.

Field notes

Stories from the mission.

The origin

The trip that started everything

A whole dental office, packed into cases and carried to Jamaica.

Read the story ↓

Dr. Will didn't start with a committee or a fundraiser. He started by taking his entire practice, team, chairs, instruments, everything, to Jamaica, setting up in the community, and getting to work. By the end, roughly a thousand people had been treated, most of whom had never sat in a dentist's chair in their lives. Extraction after extraction, denture after denture, the need was bottomless and the gratitude was, too. Will to Smile exists to turn that one trip into something that never stops.

The plan

Why Puerto Rico is our first base

The smartest place in the Caribbean to plant equipment and return to.

Read the story ↓

A recurring mission lives or dies on logistics. Puerto Rico gives us both deep need, 72 of 78 municipalities are medically underserved, and the easiest possible operating conditions: no passports for US volunteers, US currency, and domestic shipping for donated equipment. Our plan is to establish a home for our gear on the island so every return trip starts faster, reaches further, and costs less, then run missions outward from that base until the care becomes permanent.

The road ahead

Building a nonprofit from a kitchen table

Domain, board, 501(c)(3): the unglamorous work that makes missions possible.

Read the story ↓

Behind every field clinic is paperwork nobody claps for. Right now we're building the foundation: the board, the federal tax exemption that unlocks grants and makes donations deductible, and the partnerships with dental suppliers who can put equipment and supplies where they're needed most. If you've ever wanted to be part of something at the very beginning, this is the beginning. Founding donors and founding board members shape everything that follows.

Get involved

Every dollar becomes treatment. Every box of supplies becomes a smile.

Tell us how you'd like to help

Volunteer, sponsor, donate, or partner. We'll get back to you personally.

Follow the mission

Get updates when trips are planned, the base takes shape, and the first patients are treated.

Prefer email?

Give or sponsor: donate@willtosmile.org

Everything else: contact@willtosmile.org

At comparable US free dental clinics, each patient receives roughly $500 of care. Every gift goes further than you think.

Spread the word

Sharing is the first way to help.