Saving Smiles with Toothbrush Donations

SmileMakers is helping America’s ToothFairy save smiles with generous donations of toothbrushes that help children in marginalized populations brush every day!

Thanks to SmileMakers since last fall 68,628 toothbrushes have been distributed to 41 of our Dental Resource Program members and other oral health advocates working to improve the health of kids that live with restricted access to dental services–many of whom often share a single toothbrush with family members.

‍

‍

Dental Health Arlington in Arlington, Texas was one of the safety-net dental clinics that received donated toothbrushes. They help uninsured, low-income families and children in Title 1 schools have healthier smiles.

“The toothbrushes along with our education and low cost and sometimes free treatment are a wonderful asset!” Glenda Bell of Dental Health Arlington told us.

Another recipient, Capstone Rural Health in Parrish, Alabama hosts an annual Back2School drive. The drive gives away backpacks filled with items such as notebooks, folders, pencils, gift certificates for haircuts, shoes, and of course–toothbrushes. Their Dental Director, Dr. Aneesa Bone was excited to receive their donated toothbrushes from SmileMakers. She told us, “Thank you for our toothbrushes!! What an amazing donation. We can’t wait to give these out in the community.”

Likewise, MCHD Dentistry in Morgantown, West Virginia participates in an annual Back to School Bash where they set up “Smile Express”, a mobile clinic that provides free assessments for students and links them to a dental home. Tiffany Summerlin, RDH serves as coordinator for Smile Express and thanked America’s ToothFairy and SmileMakers for their donated toothbrushes.

“This will surely bring smiles to all of our patients that receive a toothbrush!” she said. “As always we strive to provide top-notch dental care to our patients and your generosity is greatly appreciated.”

Other caring individuals that are not members of our Dental Resource Program but are working to improve the health of people living in underserved communities received donated toothbrushes as well. A few of them include:

• Dr. Maryann Lehmann from Darien, Connecticut led a team of dentists and dental students serving at the St. Francis Mission Among the Lakota on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. The clinic is the only source of dental care for thousands of Lakota people on the reservation. Her team treated patients, educated them about dental hygiene, and was able to give everyone a toothbrush thanks to the toothbrushes they received.
  ‍
• The Lake Dallas Police Department received toothbrushes for their annual Kids & Cops Safety Event and Cook-Out in Lake Dallas, TX. An estimated 300 kids had fun playing games and received free food and prizes as well as goodie bags that included toothbrushes to keep their smiles healthy.
  ‍
• Donated toothbrushes helped a girl scout earn her Gold Award as she stocked a H.E.L.P. Closet for Stewart’s Creek High School in Charlotte, NC. The closet allows all students access to essential items such as dental hygiene and other hygiene supplies.

An additional 67,992 toothbrushes were recently received from SmileMakers and are being distributed at back-to-school and other fall events that benefit children and teens living in underprivileged communities.

The donated toothbrushes are the result of two campaigns that SmileMakers ran during February National Children’s Dental Health Month. The first donated a case of toothbrushes for every case sold at SmileMakers.com. The second was an online giving campaign that matched donors’ contributions to our toothbrush fund.

‍

Learn more about becoming a product donor.

‍