Dental caries is a global health issue negatively affecting children, causing them to miss school and have trouble socializing, eating, speaking, etc. Although there have been advancements in dental care over the last few decades and medicaid has increased access to oral healthcare for children, only 50 percent of those children who had medicaid received oral care in 2016.
According to Jane Koppelman, a researcher for The Pew Charitable Trusts’ dental campaign, "The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 28% of all US toddlers and preschoolers are affected by caries and that nearly half of US children experience caries before entering kindergarten."
In response to these alarming statistics, Spaugh Dameron Tenny decided to partner with America's Toothfairy to promote its Smile Drive campaign, where we welcomed volunteers and community organizations to donate toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, and other oral hygiene products for schools and programs that serve at-risk kids.
Our Smile Drive was held in Charlotte, NC, from March 1st to March 14th. In competition with our friends at Pinnacle Bank, we collected 1,005 oral care products, winning our first year in the Smile Drive campaign!
We owe a huge thank you to our friends at Patterson Dental who helped us win the competition by asking for donations from Crest/Oral B and Sunstar, who donated over half of our Smile Drive oral care products. Crest/Oral B kindly donated 540 tubes of tooth paste to our Smile Drive and Sunstar also donated several items.
The photo below was taken before Fernando Ycaza, Senior Vice President of Pinnacle Bank, had to dance Salsa as a friendly punishment for losing our Smile Drive competition.
In addition to our Smile Drive, Spaugh Dameron Tenny sponsored America's Toothfairy's Celebration of Smiles event in Charlotte.
Shane Tenny, CFP® and partner of Spaugh Dameron Tenny moderated the conversation between this panel of local thought leaders in the dental industry. The discussion focused on how to get involved to help local children, engage dental practice teams and highlight dental practices in the community by supporting oral health care, education, and resources for children in need. The panel of dentists included:
Click or tap the buttons below to catch up on the discussion from the Celebration of Smiles event and gain insights from each of the three passionate dentists.
Millennial Dentist Pushing the Pedal to the Floor
Six Money Decisions for Dentists
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Molly was the marketing director at SDT from October 2017 through November 2020. She is passionate about connecting with people, digital marketing, and serving her community.
