Hamilton junior’s nonprofit aims for oral health | Community

Minsoo Kim said a lot of people don’t know about the link between good dental hygiene and their overall health. The rising junior at Hamilton High School said she started her own nonprofit to try and fix that.

“It definitely builds up over time,” Minsoo said. “If you don’t have good oral health, it’s basically going to affect everything.”

Minsoo said she wants to be a dentist in the future and was looking for a way to pursue her passion for dentistry.

“I’m very detail-oriented, and I like to do stuff with my hands,” Minsoo said. “I wanted to do something that would involve me in that as well, because it’s just been my passion since I was little.”

With help from her sister and her orthodontist, she came up with a plan to start Happy Teeth Outreach Program. The nonprofit is dedicated to spreading awareness of the importance of dental hygiene in underprivileged communities.

Minsoo said her organization does workshops, educational campaigns, and donation drives. The goal is to equip individuals and families with the knowledge and resources for better oral health.

So far Minsoo said her group has donated thousands of dental hygiene products to organizations that directly work with people in need, including ICAN and New Pathways for Youth.

It was not easy getting started, Minsoo said.

“It was pretty hard to get people to even recognize me and … take me seriously as a nonprofit, because right when I’m starting, I don’t have any connections,” Minsoo said.

She said she started out emailing small businesses and dentists in the area and soon started making connections.

“I want to do more interactive things,” Minsoo said.

She said she’s worked with elementary school students on the interactive displays.

“It’s heartwarming for me when I can actually interact with the children and see them smile,” she said.

Some of the donations of dental supplies she has given go to young children all the way up to high school age, Minsoo said.

“I don’t think lots of kids my age know how important oral health is,” Minsoo said. “Basic things, like flossing, that really catches up to you over time and I don’t think many people know how important it is.”

The Mayo Clinic says that oral hygiene is an important factor to overall health because the mouth is an entry point for germs to enter the body. They can travel to either the digestive system, or the respiratory system.

The Mayo Clinic says there is research that links poor oral hygiene to cardiovascular disease.

She said she wants Happy Teeth to grow.

“I don’t want to keep it just in Arizona,” Minsoo said. “I want to spread it as much as I can, so just getting that exposure and finding people in those states that I can reach out to who have the same passion, and are willing to take this a branch further.”

Minsoo still has two more years to complete at Hamilton before she goes to college. She said she hasn’t decided which college she would like to attend yet.

One that is at least on her radar is the University of Michigan, because she said it has a good dentistry program.

“I’m leaning towards oral surgery, but dentistry overall is what I’m passionate about,” Minsoo said.

To contact the nonprofit, email [email protected].