By Jack Hadley
We first fell in love with celebrity cosmetic dentist Dr. Bill Dorfman when we saw his smile makeover magic on the ABC hit show, “Extreme Makeover.” Recognized today as America’s Dentist, Dr. Bill is responsible for transforming a number of Hollywood smiles, including Usher, Jessica Simpson, Nia Long, Ozzy Osbourne, and the cast of “Desperate Housewives,” just to name a few. But there is more to this “Smile King” than just beautiful pearly whites.
In addition to donating all the proceeds from his New York Times bestselling book, “Billion Dollar Smile,” to children’s charities, Dr. Bill has also helped raise millions of dollars for Smiles for Life through his corporate company, Discus Dental. With award-winning products such as Zoom! Teeth Whitening, Dr. Bill has been able to team up with The Crown Council to help raise millions of dollars for children worldwide through an Annual Smile Whitening Campaign. The Smiles for Life Foundation is the charity arm of an organization called The Crown Council. Each year, from March through June, hundreds of top dental practices around the world professionally whiten teeth, with 100% of the money donated to seriously ill, disabled, and underprivileged children.Each dental practice donates its time — which is a huge contribution for a busy dental practice. Then, Discus Dental steps up to provide 100% of the professional smile-whitening kits at no charge to participating practices. Over the last 12 years, thousands of such kits have been donated. With Dr. Dorfman’s help, The Smiles for Life Foundation has raised more than $27 million benefiting hundreds of children's charities — including local charities in the dentists’ hometowns and national participating charities such as Children’s Miracle Network and Kid’s Cancer Care Foundation.This year, in an effort to raise even more awareness and donations for kids, participating Smiles for Life dental practices are integrating social media tools — with help from a social media marketing group called SocialMediaDental.com. The Smiles for Life Foundation launched 350 blogs in March to kick off this year’s campaign. Whitening information and other blog content posts weekly — with discussions about everything from teeth whitening processes to stories about children helped through donations. In addition to these blog sites, dentists are incorporating Facebook and Twitter strategies into their campaigns to help raise awareness about this amazing nonprofit organization. Thanks goes to Dr. Bill Dorfman, the great people at Discus Dental, the hundreds of participating dental teams, and the Smiles for Life Foundation for helping more children around the world smile for life.For more information on Smiles for Life, visit: www.smilesforlife.orgFor more information on Dr. Bill Dorfman, visit: www.billdorfmandds.com
Jack Hadley is co-founder and CEO at Lava7, a social media marketing agency. Often referred to as an epiphany catalyst and corporate storyteller, Jack helps both large corporations and small startups distill and refine their message for clear communication. An award-winning copywriter, and former agency executive creative director, Jack has a rich background in all aspects of the creative process, and has passionately focused the last several years on social media engagement strategies for business. He is frequently asked to speak to groups about messaging, creativity, and social media marketing. Jack also teaches advertising, marketing, and social media at Brigham Young University.
