California Smile Survey 2024-2025

The California Smile Survey is an oral health assessment of 3rd-grade children at select schools in California. You may also hear this referred to as the Basic Screening Survey (BSS) or the 3rd grade survey. Please note that the CA Smile Survey is not the same as the Kindergarten Oral Health Assessment (KOHA).

Background

The CA Smile Survey will be conducted in the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 academic years. The last CA Smile Survey was conducted in 2018-2019. The Office of Oral Health is partnering with California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) for the implementation of the survey. Mayra Villarreal, MA, is the project coordinator at CSUS.

Status Update (Feb 2025)

  • Superintendent letter: In mid-October 2024, a letter was sent to school superintendents to provide information about the CA Smile Survey. The letter was jointly signed by Tony Thurmond, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction of the California Department of Education (CDE), and Dr. Shakalpi Pendurkar, the Dental Director from the Office of Oral Health (OOH). 
  • Schools selected to participate: In total, there are 45 counties included in the CA Smile Survey, 141 districts, and 180 schools. Only certain schools within each district have been selected to participate. Please see the list of schools selected in your county.  
  • Recruitment of schools: CSUS will be leading the school recruitment efforts. For those schools selected to participate, CSUS Project Coordinator, Mayra Villarreal, MA, is in the process of contacting (via letter and email) the principals of each school to request participation. 
  • Screening of students: This will happen over two school years. CSUS is currently scheduling dates for these screenings. Prior to the screenings, schools will be asked to share with parents a letter describing the California Smile Survey and an opt-out form. These documents are available in 12 different languages for the schools.  

Call to Action for Local Oral Health Programs

  1. Please review the list of schools selected for participation. If you are planning screenings already, kindly reach out to Ms. Villarreal to provide clear communication for schools to support both LOHP efforts and the CA Smile Survey.
  2. Ms. Mayra Villarreal will contact LOHPs as needed to support recruitment of schools.
  3. Please refer questions from districts or schools to Ms. Villarreal.