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America's ToothFairy Smile Drive Inspires Coast-to-Coast Toothbrush Collection Effort

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More than 300,000 oral care products delivered to children in need.
Posted: May 2, 2017
Edited by Dentaltown staff
 
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—America’s ToothFairy: National Children’s Oral Health Foundation has concluded its fourth annual Smile Drive with more than 300,000 toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other oral care products distributed to underserved children.

The Smile Drive campaign's goal is to collect oral care products for children in need, while raising awareness of the importance of children’s dental health and engaging dental practices, companies and volunteers across the U.S. in the cause.
 
Products were collected through an array of community collection sites and large donations from SmileMakers, Patterson Dental, Procter & Gamble, and Dr. Fresh.
 
It was Glen Creek Dental’s second year of participation in the Smile Drive. They set their goal high from the start, hoping to collect the most of any dental practice participating in the campaign. Their final total was 21,500 products, the second most overall. Glen Creek Dental collected donations from local businesses, raffled off gift baskets, and reached out to local dental company representatives for support for their Smile Drive. United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley received the donated toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other products to distribute to the families they serve.

“Our patients were really proud to be associated with a dental practice that was giving back to their community in such a significant way,” said Nancy Focht, Glen Creek Dental employee. “Our goal was to distribute 2,000 oral care kits, however we were able to distribute more than 5,500 kits. We are now the primary contributor of oral hygiene products for our local United Way.”
 
Glen Creek Dental was awarded the 2017 Smile Drive Award for Most Products Collected by a Dental Practice. Other award recipients included O’Gorman-Greater Sioux Falls HOSA: Future Health Professionals Chapter which has won three straight years for Most Products Collected, this year with 33,083 products. Kristina Hyatt, RDH, was awarded Best Social Media Presence, and Culture and Heritage Museums of York County won for Best Smile Drive Photo.
 
America’s ToothFairy also held Smile Drive Charlotte in its hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, which delivered more than 80,000 oral care products to Title I schools and an array of local organizations serving children in foster care, homeless shelters, and after-school programs.
 
“We are grateful for the enthusiastic participation of so many dental practices, businesses, students and other volunteers in our 2017 Smile Drive,” said Jill Malmgren, executive director of America’s ToothFairy. “No child should go without the simple tools they need to establish positive oral health habits and prevent the pain and embarrassment of tooth decay. We are proud to see our Smile Drive participants getting involved in meeting the needs of their community and ensuring children have access to basic dental hygiene products.”
 
Since the launch of the first Smile Drive campaign in 2014, America’s ToothFairy has distributed more than 1.2 million oral care products to children in need across the country.
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