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Smile for a Lifetime partners with America’s ToothFairy

Smile for a Lifetime (S4L) was founded in an effort to link children and teens of low-income families with pro-bono orthodontic scholarships. (Photo: www.sxc.hu)
Dental Tribune USA

Dental Tribune USA

Tue. 9 December 2014

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., USA: The Smile for a Lifetime Foundation (S4L), an international nonprofit organization that provides orthodontic care and free braces to underserved children with financial challenges and special orthodontic needs, has partnered with the National Children’s Oral Health Foundation: Americas ToothFairy (NCOHF).

Smile for a Lifetime Chapters will join over 400 high schools, 600 Boys & Girls Clubs and other youth organizations as S4L orthodontic scholars participate in NCOHF’s My Smile Matters: A Youth Movement mentoring program empowering young people to give back to their communities through oral health education.

My Smile Matters participants “serve as mentors and share their new found oral health knowledge through interactive oral health lessons with younger children in their communities.” S4L scholars will be able to use NCOHF Community Education Kits for their “pay it forward” projects. The kits provide turnkey materials for youth interested in becoming community oral health educators and leaders.

NCOHF will also provide referrals from their Tomorrow’s SMILES client base to S4L chapters for pro-bono orthodontic services joining other Smile for a Lifetime national referral partners including Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), One Simple Wish and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA). Tomorrow’s SMILES youth receive pro-bono dental care through NCOHF.

Smile for a Lifetime Board President Dr. Ronald Redmond said, “Finances should never stop a child from achieving the dream of a straight smile, and S4L is committed to touching the lives of our youth by awarding thousands of orthodontic scholarships to deserving kids. Given our shared goal of fostering self-confidence, good oral health and “pay it forward “ programs among our nation’s youth, we believe our partnership with National Children’s Oral Health Foundation is the perfect union for providing our nation’s young people with a brighter future.”

“NCOHF is thrilled to partner with S4L to enhance the ‘pay it forward’ educational resources available to S4L Chapters and orthodontic scholars,” said Fern Ingber, NCOHF president and CEO. “We look forward to supporting scholars as they work hard to increase oral health literacy in their communities.”

Pediatric dental disease is the No. 1 chronic childhood illness in America, impacting millions of children and their ability to eat, sleep, play and learn. In response to this health crisis, NCOHF: America’s ToothFairy was founded in 2006 as a collaborative effort of clinicians, academicians, corporate leaders and community stakeholders. Dedicated to eliminating children’s preventable suffering from dental disease, NCOHF provides programs, comprehensive resources, and support to deliver community-based critical preventive, educational, and treatment services to the most vulnerable children.

S4L was founded in an effort to link children and teens of low-income families with pro-bono orthodontic scholarships. S4L receives support from Ormco Corp., which donates its best-in-class orthodontic appliances to the program throughout the U.S. and Canada. Since its inception, the foundation has treated more than 3,000 children ages 11-18 years of age who could not afford braces and has grown to an international nonprofit organization that currently serves more than 164 chapters in 43 states and Canada. To date over $17 million in services has been donated.

(Source: Smile for a Lifetime)

 

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