News flash: dentists are giving away more than free toothbrushes these days. In fact, this year, dentists participating in the Crown Council’s Smiles for Life campaign will be giving away approximately $1.5 million to children’s charities across North America. Since 1998, the Crown Council, a prestigious alliance of leading-edge dentists, has raised more than $15 million for children’s charities through their innovative Smiles for Life campaign. During Smiles for Life, participating Crown Council dentists perform high-quality tooth whitening services for their patients and donate 100 percent of the proceeds to children’s charities. In 2003, nearly 700 Crown Council dentists participated.
“This campaign has been successful beyond our wildest dreams, and has enabled us to help thousands of children receive the opportunities they deserve,” said Greg Anderson, director of the Crown Council and founder of the Smiles for Life Foundation. “I am proud to work with these committed dentists each year and salute them for their efforts and their success.”
Tooth whitening is the most requested dental procedure in North America, generating an astounding $750 million a year. According to the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD), consumer demand for professional tooth whitening has increased more than 300 percent since 1996. As innovators in the dental community, Crown Council dentists are leading this recent boom in professional whitening and are capitalizing on this popular and profitable service to help at-risk children. Discus Dental, America's leading manufacturer and distributor of tooth whitening products has joined the Crown Council’s effort, and donates their new ZOOM! Weekender Kit to Crown Council dental practices participating in Smiles for Life.
The Smiles for Life Foundation works in conjunction with Garth Brooks’ Teammates For Kids Foundation to distribute all of the money raised to more than 300 children’s charities. Charities have included the Starbright Foundation, an organization that helps seriously ill children combat medical and emotional challenges, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a research and treatment center for children with life threatening illnesses, and Little League Baseball’s Challenger Program, an organization working to provide healthy activities for disabled children while teaching teamwork and citizenship.
This year, for the first time, Crown Council dentists participating in Smiles for Life also offered Toothprints, a new child identification tool, to parents receiving teeth whitening services during the campaign. Toothprints is a thermoplastic wafer designed by a pediatric dentist to record a child’s dental records, DNA and scent for identification purposes should the child be abducted or go missing. Thousands of children received Toothprints as part of this year’s Smiles for Life campaign.
The Crown Council is an international roundtable of dentists strongly committed to promoting oral health, fighting oral cancer and serving their communities through charitable work.
For more information on Smiles for Life or to find a participating dentist in your area, please visit www.SMILESFORLIFE.org. To arrange an interview with a Crown Council dentist in your area, please contact Romano & Associates Inc. at 410-730-4133 or by e-mail at cgainer@romanoinc.com.