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Honest care, Honest prices.
Right now Smiles of Hope focuses on the care that hurts most when it's missing: taking out teeth that are causing pain and infection. As more dentists join the mission, more services will follow — that's the whole point of our 33-chair expansion.
What Things Cost
Registration
Holds your spot for clinic day
$20
Extractions
Simple & surgical — priced per tooth
$10
Screening & 3-D imaging
Included on clinic day
Included
Our Services — dental consultation, digital panoramic X-ray, extractions, and surgery. Patients are seen in the order they register — first register, first seen — and an appointment is required. Register online at www.SmilesOfHopeDental.com — or call 573-621-2793 with questions.
Our digital panoramic X-ray — every patient gets a full 3-D panoramic image of their teeth on clinic day, so our dentists can see the whole picture before treatment begins.
Inside the clinic — a clean, bright, fully equipped treatment room at Lighthouse Church, kept to professional standards by our licensed volunteers.
The safety net for the safety net
Most of our patients are uninsured or on Medicaid, and many have waited months — sometimes years — with dental pain because there was nowhere else to go. Some drive over 1,000 miles to reach us.
Veterans — a large share of the people in our chairs have served.
Neighbors in recovery — we serve local recovery homes and their residents.
People re-entering society — including those coming out of incarceration.
Anyone in Missouri — no insurance and no local dentist required; just arrange your own ride to and from the clinic.
Jim
Retired U.S. Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sergeant
Jim, a retired Master Gunnery Sergeant from the Marines, came to Smiles of Hope needing his smile restored. Working in conjunction with AT Still Dental College, the clinic performed his extractions and AT Still made his dentures — and Jim got his smile back.
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Jim and Kevin De Arman, the clinic's Dental Minister, are friends and fellow members of the Marine Corps League.
Story shared by Kevin De Arman, N.A.C.M., Dental Minister
"We're the safety net for the safety net. We're the safety net for the VA. We're the safety net for the federally qualified health care clinics — and patients tell us all the time, at Smiles of Hope I can get in to see you guys quicker."
— Dr. William Kane, founding dentist
Serving those who served — this poster on the clinic wall marks the 2017 MOSDOH Veterans Project, a collaboration with A.T. Still University's Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU) providing dental care for veterans.
It started in a mobile unit in 2010. Look at it now.
Smiles of Hope began with a simple vision: reach the people who need dental care but can't afford the cost. It started in a mobile facility with very limited resources — and a lot of faith.
“We are God’s Dental Clinic”
Improving Oral Health for our VIP’S (VeryImportantPatients). Regardless of their economic situation.
Matthew 25:40
“And The King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
2010 — the clinic opens in a mobile facility, powered entirely by volunteers.
Growing roots — Lighthouse Church provides a dedicated dentistry suite, and the ministry becomes a fixture of Southeast Missouri.
June 21, 2025 — groundbreaking for a major addition at Lighthouse Church, expanding the clinic from 10 chairs to 33. Construction is still underway, and no opening date has been announced.
Today — through 2025, 11,546 patients treated and 32,611 extractions performed, plus numerous oral surgery procedures, with every dollar and donation invested back into growing the clinic.
How it all began — the mobile unit, 2010.
The transformation — building the clinic.
To this — the clinic today at Lighthouse Church.
The expansion — rising now
Ground broke on June 21, 2025 for the addition that takes Smiles of Hope from 10 chairs to 33. Here's where it stands today — and a look at the clinic day it's being built to hold.
Dental Clinic Addition
The future expansion, under construction — the steel frame of the new clinic is going up now at Lighthouse Church.
The finished concept — this is our clinic in action on a clinic day today, and it's what the expansion will look like inside: an open floor of chairs beneath the ocean mural, with room for far more patients at once.
"Blessing others since 2010."
That's been our motto from the very first clinic day — the words on the clinic door at Lighthouse Church, and the heart behind every volunteer who shows up to serve.
Dr. William Kane — 2025 ADA Humanitarian Award
Our founding dentist, Dr. William T. Kane of Dexter, received the American Dental Association's 2025 Humanitarian Award, honoring his years of volunteer leadership through Smiles of Hope. As ADA President Dr. Brett Kessler put it: "Dr. Kane's passion for dentistry and dedication to serving his community ensure Smiles of Hope continues to provide vital oral health services long into the future." Along the way, Dr. Kane has mentored at least 29 volunteers who started here as pre-dental students and are now practicing dentists or in dental school.
Blessing Others Since 2010
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Senior Pastor Tim Russell
Pastors Tim and Tina Russell are the founders of Lighthouse Church and take an active role in all Outreach Ministries under the Lighthouse umbrella.
Minister Kevin DeArman
Kevin is our Dental Minister. Along with Sr. Pastor Tim Russell & Dr. William T. Kane, DDS; God as the Founder of Smiles of Hope, directed these men in 2010 to start our clinic.
Dr. William T. Kane - DDS
Dr. William T. Kane, DDS, MBA, PC is our Chief Volunteer Dentist. Dr. Kane has been in private practice in Dexter, MO for almost 50 years.