Oklahoma City families with kids in need of dental care have a free option circled on the calendar for September 18: a full-day clinic at Paycom Center offering exams, X-rays, fillings, extractions and hygiene services, all free of charge. The event, which runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., is a partnership between Delta Dental and the Oklahoma City Thunder, and organizers are now putting out the call for volunteers to help pull it off.
The clinic is officially named Full Court Smiles, an inaugural event hosted by the Delta Dental of Oklahoma Foundation and the Thunder in partnership with the national nonprofit TeamSmile, according to a Delta Dental of Oklahoma Foundation post. As News 9 first reported, the event is supported by a grant from the Delta Dental of Oklahoma Foundation and is being teamed up with the Thunder specifically to serve kids. Per the Delta Dental post, the clinic still needs dental assistants, dental hygienists and general volunteers to staff the day.
TeamSmile, founded in 2006, is the operational engine behind arena-based clinics like this one. The organization partners with professional sports teams across the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL to run large-scale dental events inside stadiums and arenas, and according to Humana, it has delivered more than $25 million in free dental care and education to underserved youth nationwide. Pairing dental professionals with the hometown team's mascots, sports team representation, face painting and music is part of the model, and the same mix of kid-friendly features is planned for the Paycom Center event, per the News 9 report.
Why Oklahoma Needs This Kind of Event
The clinic is landing in a state with some of the worst childhood oral health outcomes in the country. Oklahoma received an overall D grade on key oral health indicators, with 66% of third graders experiencing tooth decay compared to 52% nationally, and fewer than half of Medicaid-enrolled youth getting an annual preventive dental visit, according to research published in PMC.
Part of the problem is access. Nearly one in four Oklahomans lives in a designated dental health professional shortage area, and the state averages just 48.5 dental care providers per 100,000 residents compared to the U.S. average of 61.0, according to the Oklahoma Primary Care Association. Those shortages push many families toward emergency rooms or charitable events rather than routine local appointments. SoonerCare, Oklahoma's Medicaid program, does offer comprehensive dental benefits for enrolled children, but it limits adult dental coverage mostly to emergency extractions, limited exams and dentures with a $4 copay, per Free Dental Care by State — a gap that leaves pediatric-focused events like Full Court Smiles filling a critical need for working families.
Part of a Larger Pattern of Local Dental Outreach
Full Court Smiles builds on years of similar philanthropic work by the Delta Dental of Oklahoma Foundation. During the 2025-2026 school year alone, the foundation delivered more than $213,000 in free preventive dental care, including sealants and fluoride treatments, to second-grade students statewide through its Cavity Prevention Clinic program, as reported by the Journal Record. The foundation also co-sponsors an annual Kids' Day every February with the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, providing free cleanings, fillings and crowns to children ages 4 to 12.
On a larger scale, the Oklahoma Mission of Mercy has provided over $16.4 million in free dental treatment to more than 19,000 Oklahomans since 2010, co-produced and underwritten with more than $1 million from the Delta Dental of Oklahoma Foundation. Delta Dental's ties to the Thunder's home arena run beyond this one-day clinic, too — Paycom Center features a Delta Dental Courtside Pub hospitality space on its event level, part of an existing commercial relationship between the insurer and the arena.
A Bigger Stage for Thunder Community Efforts
The clinic also arrives amid a surge in the Thunder's community profile. The team won the NBA Championship in June 2025, a milestone that expanded the franchise's community engagement efforts and public visibility across the state, according to the Greater Oklahoma City Economic Development organization. Hoodline has previously covered Thunder games at Paycom Center, as well as the team's decision to skip a White House visit during a March trip to D.C.
For now, the immediate need is volunteers. Per the Delta Dental post, the September 18 event is seeking dental assistants, dental hygienists and general volunteers to help run the day's exams, X-rays, fillings and extractions. It remains unclear exactly how many children organizers expect to serve or whether Full Court Smiles will return as an annual fixture in Oklahoma City, questions that families and prospective volunteers will likely have answered as the event date approaches.
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