SMILE STORIES ARCHIVE

This past February, our local Paraguay Team conducted outreaches in various cities surrounding Asunción.

 

Smile Brands Inc. Affiliated Volunteers Hand-Deliver 75 Smiles in Westminster, CA!

    Volunteers extend their hearts to over 60 patients at the Holiday Day of Giving!

  Monarch Dental ensures a happy ending while delivering Smiles for Everyone in Burleson, Texas!

Perfect Smile Dental helped to deliver Smiles for Everyone on a rainy day in Las Vegas, Nevada!

This past weekend, we delivered Smiles for Everyone at our first Day of Giving event of 2019!

Members of SEAL Team 5 share some of their most memorable moments from their 10-day trip to Paraguay last July.

“She was over the moon – absolutely ecstatic with the final results!” says Stacy McGinnis, Office Manager at the Portland, Ore., Bright Now! Dental office.

“It’s such a great feeling to be part of an organization that provides smiles to people in need!” says Barbara Eilerman, Office Manager at the Arcanum, Ohio, Bright Now! Dental office.

Our Thailand International Outpost team wrapped up a successful year of delivering Smiles for people in need with outreaches at the House of Blessing Foundation and in the Mae Suai District of Chiang Rai.

Ruslan Chorniy, a 10-year old orphan visiting from Russia, received complimentary dental treatment at the Spokane, Wash., Bright Now! Dental office.

Since SEAL Team 5's trip to Paraguay in July 2018, the local team has continued to provide dental care to those in need living in some of the most isolated and underserved communities surrounding Asunción.

Last month, our team in Nicaragua conducted outreaches in the community of La Pita in the Coyolar region, serving over 150 individuals in need of dental care.

“There was not a dry eye in the office, on the morning of his completed treatments,” says Sherry Hanks, Office Manager at the Grand Prairie, Texas, Monarch Dental® office.

Our Paraguay International Outpost Team has kept busy delivering Smiles to their surrounding communities since the summer trips.

Our Ghana team goes the extra mile to help children in need! This past fall, our team journeyed to Kwadaso, which is located in the metropolis of Kumasi, to deliver pro bono dental care. 

Our Paraguay team continues to deliver Smiles for Everyone by conducting outreaches in the most remote parts of the country, where locals have little to no access to health care.

This past weekend, our Oakland team delivered Smiles for Everyone at our last Day of Giving event of 2018! Volunteers from near and far gathered at the Bright Now! Dental location in Oakland to deliver pro bono dental services to the local low-income community. 

Our Herndon team works hard to deliver Smiles for Everyone! Over 40 low-income individuals from the community of Herndon received free dental care at Bright Now! Dental on November 3, 2018.

Since our last International Outpost Trip to Paraguay in July, our local team has continued to serve those in need by conducting outreaches in surrounding communities and delivering smiles globally.

The people of the surrounding communities of Rosita in rural Nicaragua have little access to health care: there is only 1 dentist for every 50,000 people. In coordination with the Ministry of Health (MINSA) and Accion Medica Cristiana (AMC), the Smiles for Everyone Foundation took action to deliver smiles to those in need by sponsoring mobile dental care outreaches, assisting 10 different communities over the course of 9 days.

This past weekend, the Chandler team went the extra mile to help those in need! On October 7, 2018, Bright Now! Dental in Chandler, Arizona hosted a Day of Giving event to provide free dental services to underinsured individuals from the surrounding communities.

Monarch Dental, Fort Smith, AR knows a thing or two about giving back to their community. In partnership with Charolette Tidwell and Antioch Youth & Family, the Fort Smith Team has lent a helping hand to those in need for many years. It was only fitting that they would host a Day of Giving and give back using the skills they know best!

Our Ghana International Outreach volunteers deliver Smiles for Everyone!

"You are wonderful! You care, you love, you provide, you are the best. Thank you for helping me and everyone else." -patient Annah G.

On September 15, Castle Dental^® in Austin, TX opened its doors to provide no cost dental services for those in need from their surrounding communities. Over 40 volunteers from neighboring Castle Dental offices arrived ready to serve many low-income, underinsured individuals who may not have seen a dentist in years.

Bright Now! Dental's Ohio Team hosted it's second Day of Giving for 2018 on August 25, where they provided free dental care for nearly 40 individuals in need from the local Huber Heights community.

“Just look at that smile!” says Office Manager Dana Kennedy at the Lake Stevens, Wash., Bright Now!^® Dental office. Dana is referring to Dianne Lebar, a patient who recently received complimentary dental treatment through the Smiles for Everyone Foundation’s Community Smile Project (CSP) at the Lake Stevens office.

On Sunday, August 12, Bright Now! Dental partnered with Smiles for Everyone Foundation to host a Day of Giving at their Modesto office. Providers and support staff from multiple offices in Northern California traveled many hours to Modesto that morning to provide free dental care to those in need.

“Thank you so much for doing what you do. Sometimes life just happens and you no longer have the things you were used to,” says patient Ana T.

In 2011, Smile Brands Inc. sponsored its first week-long dental mission trip to Asuncion, Paraguay, where Smile Brands affiliated dentists and support staff donated their time and skills to provide dental care to 300 people in need around the community. The success of this trip sparked the first of many dental outreaches that the Smiles for Everyone Foundation would soon hold, both domestically in the United States, and abroad.

"She’s a loving mother, and a dedicated member to her church and community, always putting others first,” says Dr. Kenny Duff, Lead Dentist at the Fort Smith, Ark., Monarch Dental^® office. “It was her church members who came forward and nominated her!”

"You just don't know what this means to me, to be able to eat again without pain is the best gift I have received this year! - Cody O., a young man who has not been to a dentist in over 4 years.

Our Thailand International Outpost Volunteers deliver Smiles for Everyone!

“My dentist was wonderful with such gentle hands! I loved [this event]. Thank you for caring about the community the way you do!” – patient Sherril M.

On Saturday, June 2, 2018, volunteers from many Smile Brands affiliated offices around Florida came together for a Day of Giving at Bright Now! Dental in Orlando, Florida. Fifty individuals in need from the Orlando community received free dental care from these volunteers, totaling over $40,000 in donated dentistry. Procedures provided include cleanings, fillings, oral cancer screenings, extractions, and sealants.

Over the past few months, Grant Road Dental has been screening individuals in need to be candidates to receive free dental implants at the Mountain View Day of Giving. On Sunday, May 20, these individuals finally got their Smiles back and for many, the ability to bite and chew again.

On March 21-23, 2018, our Nicaragua International Outpost team conducted their second outreach in Matagalpa this year, serving 150 individuals in need.

On May 8-9, 2018, Our Thailand International Outpost Volunteers conducted an outreach at the Correctional Institution for Drug Addicts in Lampang, Thailand.

Over 40 individuals received free dental care this past Sunday during the Burbank Day of Giving.

 

Our Ghana International Outpost team continues to deliver Smiles to the communities in need! This past month, the dental team visited Behinase.

Dr. Vidhyalakshmi Sampath has been serving patients at Bright Now! Dental for over 11 years. During this time, she has helped many patients improve their oral health and even detected a cancerous lump in a patient's mouth, which ultimately saved the patient's life. Dr. Sampath is an enthusiastic volunteer for Smiles for Everyone Foundation and has given her time and skills to help people in need throughout her community.

The Day of Giving for Veterans is an annual event that has been a truly rewarding experience for the volunteers who participate. Over thirty providers and support staff gathered at the Bright Now! Dental office in Olympia, Washington to host the 2018 Olympia Day of Giving this past weekend.

William Courtney Fisher is a retired dentist from Kaysville, Utah. At the age of 66, the doctor still wanted to give his time to dentistry and to help those who can't afford dental care. So he has been in the Kingdom of Tonga for the past eleven weeks doing just that.

Two years ago, Dr. Brian Elliot at the Fort Collins, Colo., Bright Now!^® Dental office gave patient James Proby a brand new smile through the Community Smile Project (CSP). Following his treatment in July 2016, James wrote a touching letter to the Team.

Monarch Dental has set a new record for the Smiles for Everyone Foundation’s Days of Giving. With providers and support staff from multiple Monarch Dental offices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area volunteering their time this past Saturday, the team was able to provide free dental care for 108 low-income individuals in the community. The fillings, cleanings, extractions, and various other services received that day amounted to over $120,000 in donated dentistry.

Smiles for Everyone Foundation is excited to announce the 2018 International Outpost Team visiting Paraguay in July!

“It was an amazing day full of amazing patients and an even more amazing team.” – Tammy Basnett, Smile Brands Inc. Director of Market Operations for the Cleveland and Midwest Cities.

On March 16, 2018, our Ghana International Outpost team did another outreach to provide dental care for children in need in the community. Patients were screened and selected at the African Faith Basic School in the Atwima Kwanwoma District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

"The Day of Giving is a great opportunity for me and my team to give back to our community.  The Day of Giving event is a reminder that there is a need for dental care in our community [and it] allows us to give back to those less fortunate who may have obstacles accessing dental care, " says Dr. Abdon Manaloto.

Over 50 individuals in the Avondale community received free dental care at Bright Now! Dental on February 24, 2018. “[It is] great to have so many people willing to help.” Herbert Tutrone, along with many other patients who received care that day, was very appreciative of the opportunity to receive free dental care after not having been to the dentist in over 12 years.

On Wednesday, February 7, 2018, our Ghana International Outpost team visited Kyekyewere in the Atwima Kwanwoma district to provide dental care for  children in need in the community.

Over $80,000 in donated dentistry was provided during a record-breaking Day of Giving in Temecula, California on February 11. With 50 volunteers- including dentists, hygienists, assistants, and front office staff- we were able to deliver Smiles for 80 underserved individuals at the Bright Now! Dental office on Temecula Parkway.

On January 29-31, 2018, our outpost in Nicaragua held a dental outreach at the school of the Yale community #2, located near the Department of Matagalpa. The team was able to treat 150 patients from the Yale villages, providing a total of 247 procedures, including cleanings and extractions.

Over 25 volunteers from eight area Bright Now! Dental locations gathered at the Lakewood, Colo., office on Saturday, January 27, to provide nearly $30,000 in donated dentistry during a Day of Giving. The team worked to deliver care to over 40 underserved patients from the community, with services including checkups, cleanings, oral cancer screenings, fluoride treatments, fillings, and extractions.

Our Thailand International Outpost continues to serve the people in need in their community through their many dental outreaches. On January 19-20, 2018, four dentists and fifteen support staff volunteered their time to deliver Smiles to 226 individuals in the Omkoi district of Chiangmai, Thailand.

When Candelaria Ramirez, a recent immigrant from Central America, needed dental treatment, the Ocala, Fla., Bright Now!® Dental office stepped in to help.

On December 28, 2017, the Thailand International Outpost team visited the Im Jai House in Chiangmai, Thailand and provided free dental services to 22 children at the orphanage.

When Amber Black was involved a traumatic car accident, she broke her jaw in several places which caused her to lose her front teeth, and along with that, her confidence to smile. As a full-time student, she did not possess the financial means to obtain much needed dental care. “My dental health was severely affecting my life. I was tremendously embarrassed, ashamed and fearful to smile,” reflects Amber.

For the past 15 years, Bright Now! Dental’s Dr. Shorouq Sahawneh has been helping patients improve their health and self-confidence by transforming smiles. She is an active partner of the Smiles for Everyone Foundation who has volunteered her time and skills to provide hundreds of hours of free dental care to individuals in need.

Over 35 volunteers from 15 area Newport Dental and Bright Now! Dental Locations gathered at the Orange, CA office on Sunday October 22nd to participate in a Day of Giving, in collaboration with the Smiles for Everyone Foundation.

Fifty low-income individuals from the local community received free dental services throughout the day, including checkups, cleanings, oral cancer screenings, fluoride treatments, fillings, and extractions.

Our Olympia Day of Giving was a fantastic event focused on providing pro bono dental services for veterans and their dependents. Over 40 volunteers from nine area Bright Now! Dental Locations gathered at the Olympia, WA office on Saturday, September 23^rd to deliver Smiles for Veterans. Nearly all the volunteers were either veterans or were from military families, and they understand how difficult it can be for veterans to access care.

“You could tell his spirits were raised,” says Bridgett Bullard, Office Manager at the Bellingham, Wash., Bright Now!® Dental office. “To see the way he first came into the office, to how he was after the treatments, truly warmed my heart.”

The A+ Dental Care team believes in giving back to the communities they serve and what better way than to donate dental services to area residents in need. The Day of Giving event was held at their recently acquired practice in Folsom, CA as a way to celebrate the group’s expansion into the Folsom community.

It’s a tale of miraculous networking, connecting the dots and putting together puzzle pieces – ultimately culminating in a grand, beautiful picture. It’s the story of how Veronica Munguia, a widow and single mother of five boys, received complimentary dental treatment from the Bright Now!® Dental office in Visalia, Calif., courtesy of Smiles for Everyone Foundation’s Community Smile Project (CSP). But it’s also so much more than that.

“The first time Aide Romero came to the office was to serve as her mother’s interpreter,” says Hayward Office Manager Jessica Cortez. “When her mother asked if there was anything that Dr. Sood could do to help her daughter, we noticed that Aide had been talking with her hand over her mouth.

For 11 years, John Cherry has worked as a busboy/janitor at a diner where Ana Vazquez and her husband frequently stop to eat on their trips between Florida’s East Coast, where they live, and the West Coast where they have a vacation home. Over the past three years when they would visit this family-owned Greek café, John would smile and greet them – but never speak. “It was obvious he was missing several teeth and seriously needed dental care,” says Ana.

It’s not every day you get to change someone’s life, but at Monarch Dental^® in Euless, Texas, Lead Dentist Dr. Chaitra Shanthagowda (Dr. Gowda) and staff had that opportunity recently. Through the Community Smile Project (CSP), they were able to give patient Kaitlin Lovell a new smile, and a new outlook to go with it.

Studies show that smiling can influence mood, increase happiness, reduce stress and even retrain the brain to be more positive. So when a person smiles more, it can have many positive effects – and not just on the person smiling!

When fashion jewelry store employee, and recent Community Smile Project patient Kalee Gouff, first walked into the Hayward, California, Bright Now!^® Dental office, she was in extreme pain and in need of emergency dental care. “The doctor extracted her tooth and she was really happy with how she was treated,” says Office Manager Jessica Cortez. “She said we didn’t make her feel embarrassed.”

Barb Eilerman, Office Manager at the Bright Now! Dental in Arcanum, Ohio, met patient Jennifer Fields when she came to the office for a standard examination due to lower arch pain. Says Barb, “Dr. Ermenc gave her a treatment plan, and she said she couldn’t afford the work. Because she was in pain and really needed help, I started checking into the Community Smile Project [CSP] for her.”

“I can’t thank you enough for such an outstanding ‘Day of Giving’!” wrote Dr. Shorouq Sahawneh, Lead Dentist, Costa Mesa, Calif., & PC President/Director of Clinical Care (DCC) for Southern California. “The flow of energy was amazing and everybody had a tremendous part in making the day successful. Seeing the smiles on those patients’ faces, and feeling how grateful they were, made the whole experience worthwhile. You definitely made a huge difference in those patients’ lives, one smile at a time.”

A confidence boost, flossing lesson and a deep appreciation for cleaning. That’s exactly what the Bright Now!^® Dental team in Mission Viejo gave a recent patient, Nicole Pelletier, by participating in the Community Smile Project.

Overcoming our fears is never easy, but it certainly helps when you have a few friendly faces to guide you through. That was the case for Tatsiana “Tanya” Komarovich, a shy, sweet, 11 year old from Belarus. Thanks to the Smiles for Everyone Foundation’s Community Smile Project, Tanya received treatment at the Bright Now!^® Dental office in Maple Valley, Washington, earlier this summer.

A team of 33 affiliated providers and employees from offices in Tennessee gathered at two Nashville Castle Dental offices to give people in need a reason to smile. The one-day event in mid-August not only lifted up some people without access to dental care, it gave the volunteers a renewed sense of purpose.

Before receiving a new smile from the Mission Viejo Bright Now! Dental team, courtesy of the Smiles for Everyone Foundation’s Community Smile Project, Joseph Gardiner found the simple, everyday activity of eating a chore. Worried he might stab a nerve each time he took a bite, Joseph stayed away from the dentist for more than four years before walking into the Mission Viejo office.

Elizabeth is 27 and already suffers from severe dental issues. For years she has had trouble eating and been embarrassed to laugh or smile. As a school teacher in Nicaragua she earns $40 a month which has made it difficult for her to afford the care she needs.

Darrel’s income and lack of dental coverage made him a candidate for the Community Smile Project. Although he is a veteran, having served in the Air Force for over 20 years, and has access to dentists through the Veterans Administration (VA), he readily admits they make him nervous.

When Mary Gallaher was a sophomore in college, she fainted and took the brunt of the fall with her face. “When I came to, I was spitting out what I thought were pebbles,” she recalls. “But they weren’t pebbles – they were my teeth.”

Juan David is a child with a cleft palate who has undergone surgery three times causing him to be scared of doctors and needles. His parents brought him to our dental outreach in Paraguay, knowing his teeth needed care. After two days of spending time with Juan David, he was finally ready to receive the fillings that he needed from our compassionate team.

Cristina has five of her own children and two from her second marriage. Her first husband died in a farming accident and she married again, but her husband struggles to put food on the table. A little over a year ago their house burned down and they lost one of their children in that fire. “It was an absolutely devastating time for our family…” shared Cristina. She came with three children to receive dental care.

During our team's two day outreach to Villa Elisa in Paraguay, they provided care for 68 people and met a special young lady, Cesia. Cesia is fifteen years old and had a severe cavity in one of her front incisors. She never wanted to smile because she was embarrassed of the large hole in her tooth. Our team was able to provide her the dental care that she needed and give her a beautiful new smile.

For years, Michael struggled with intense dental pain. He was missing teeth and had broken several, which became infected. When he first went to the Bright Now!^® Dental office in Portland, Oregon, he couldn’t chew without major discomfort.