SANTA CRUZ — Dientes Community Dental Care announced the appointment of Camille Smith-Ballon to its Board of Directors. Ms. Smith-Ballon is the second patient board member to join illustrating Dientes’ commitment to patient-centered care.
Ms. Smith-Ballon is the founder and owner of CruzFit, a company dedicated to the health and wellness of Santa Cruz County residents by promoting proper diet and exercise. In her work, she sees the effect poor oral health has on one’s ability to make healthy food choices. Due to oral pain or tooth loss, some of her clients are unable to chew raw fruits and vegetables, essential components of a healthy diet.
Ms. Smith-Ballon has understood the importance of access to oral health care from an early age. Raised outside of Dallas, TX, her father was the only dentist in the county who offered public health dentistry. Two Saturdays a month, she would help her father in the clinic, often going the extra mile by providing transportation for families who did not own a vehicle.
A Santa Cruz resident since 1991, Ms. Smith-Ballon had been laid off from a job and did not have dental insurance when she developed some concerns about her son’s oral health. After several expensive visits with her dentist, her son’s schoolteacher recommended Dientes as an alternative. Dientes’ pedodontist discovered an extra set of baby teeth and was able to extract them to prevent potentially major health issues from arising.
Ms. Smith-Ballon commented on why joining the Dientes Board is important to her, “I want to be a part of improving the overall health of our community, and that cannot happen without access to dental healthcare.”