Dental injuries are among the most visible consequences of domestic violence, yet they are often the last to be addressed when survivors begin rebuilding. Christopher Sprout, a dentist based in Golden, Colorado, has spent years volunteering with a program that works to change that: the Smile Again initiative organized by the Metropolitan Denver Dental Foundation.
What the Program Does
Smile Again provides cost-free restorative dental care to survivors of domestic abuse in the Denver metro area. The Metropolitan Denver Dental Foundation, the charitable arm of the Metro Denver Dental Society, coordinates the program by connecting survivors with volunteer dentists who donate their time and clinical skills. Care is delivered at participating dental offices across metro Denver, which means survivors can receive treatment in a private, professional setting rather than a clinical charity environment.
The program serves men, women, and children who have survived situations of abuse or neglect. The focus is on restoring oral health, repairing injuries, addressing damage that went untreated, and giving survivors the physical foundation they need to move forward. More than 175 dentists have participated since the program’s founding, and the total value of donated care has exceeded $900,000.
Why Dental Care Gets Left Behind
For someone leaving an abusive situation, dental care rarely makes the immediate priority list. Emergency shelter, legal assistance, and financial stability come first. Dental injuries, including broken or missing teeth and damaged restorations, are painful and often affect a person’s ability to speak, eat, and present themselves with confidence. Left untreated, those injuries become compounding problems at exactly the moment when someone is trying to stabilize and move ahead.
Programs like Smile Again step into that gap. They do not require survivors to navigate the cost of private dental care or wait for a referral through an already-stretched public health system. Volunteer dentists provide the treatment directly, and the Metro Denver Dental Foundation handles the coordination.
Christopher Sprout’s Involvement
Christopher Sprout, DDS, has contributed more than 400 hours of community service, a significant portion of which has gone to programs like Smile Again. His clinical background spans cosmetic dentistry, restorative work, and implant prosthetics, skills that align directly with the kind of repair this program requires. Dr. Sprout holds Fellow status in the Academy of General Dentistry and the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, and he is a founding member of the Colorado Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.
His approach to care, both in practice and in service, is grounded in listening first and planning treatment around each patient’s circumstances. In a program like Smile Again, that orientation matters. Survivors who have experienced trauma need providers who lead with care and patience rather than clinical efficiency.
A Local Program With a Specific Purpose
Smile Again is a Denver program built for Denver. It does not operate through a national referral line or a broad charitable mandate. The Metro Denver Dental Society built it to serve the community its members live and work in. Volunteer dentists like Christopher Sprout, who practice in the Denver area and understand the regional landscape, are the core of what makes it function.
For anyone who wants to learn more about the Smile Again program, the Metropolitan Denver Dental Society can be reached through mddsdentist.com.
Read more about the national reach of the Give Back a Smile program, or see how Smile Again and Give Back a Smile work together. Learn more about Christopher Sprout, DDS.