Colgate reaches children in need across the globe
with the Power of a Bright Smile.

As the world leader in oral care, Colgate has been committed to providing oral health education to children for more than 75 years. Today, Colgate's Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® reaches children in need across the globe with free dental screenings and oral health education. Our commitment to building a lifetime of healthy habits provides children with burgeoning self-esteem and a foundation for success - that's the Power of a Bright Smile.

Colgate's Global Reach

Tooth decay is a common chronic disease among children that causes needless pain, absence from school, and loss of confidence. Throughout the world, many children do not have access to basic dental care and lack the education needed to maintain good oral health.

Colgate's Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® is among the most far-reaching, successful children's oral health initiatives in the world. With long-standing partnerships with governments, schools and communities, Colgate's Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® our flagship program has reached 650 million children and their families across 80 countries with oral health education and dental screenings.

Award Winning Curriculum

The cornerstone of Colgate's Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® is an award winning educational curriculum, developed with an international advisory board and translated into 30 languages. In the United States, our program materials and in-classroom curriculum reaches nearly 9 out of every 10 kindergarten students each year, 3.5 million children in all 50 states, and more than 750,000 kids through our partnership with the Head Start program.

Delivered in partnerships with teachers, our curriculum highlights how to maintain healthy teeth and gums through engaging games and videos as well as instructions on how to brush properly. Distribution of free tubes of Colgate® children’s toothpaste and Colgate® children’s toothbrushes — sometimes a child's first toothbrush — is also an important part of our classroom outreach.

Reaching Communities

In many countries, Colgate's Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® is mobile. For example, in South Africa we deliver our program through a train that brings health care services to the rural poor. In the United States, we offer a fleet of mobile dental vans staffed by volunteer dentists who provide free dental screenings and education to children in need.

Click here to learn more about our U.S. mobile dental van program.