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Her turn to laugh

Aug. 20, 2012
Volunteer dentists from Tomorrow's SMILES offer life-changing oral health services for a teenage girl, taking away the pain and restoring her smile and dignity.

Linda Ellerbee once said, “A good time to laugh is any time you can.” This wasn’t true for Haley. She hated to laugh or even smile. When her classmates caught a glimpse of her crooked teeth, they would laugh ... at her expense. If she did laugh, Haley shamefully covered her mouth with her hands in an effort to spare herself from the ridicule that followed.

“I try not to smile or laugh very often,” Haley said. “Once, I smiled and showed my teeth in a school picture. When everyone saw my picture, they laughed and made fun of me. Now they call me names and write notes saying that I should get my teeth fixed.” In addition to the teasing and cruel jokes, Haley dealt with daily physical pain too.

Her teeth hurt her so much that she couldn’t concentrate in school. In an effort to distract herself from the pain, she chewed on pen caps and clenched her teeth, but that offered little relief. Her parents desperately wanted to be able to help their daughter, but they were unable to secure steady employment. Struggling to support Haley and her four siblings, they used what few funds they had for basic necessities such as food and shelter. Needless to say, there wasn’t enough money to attend to Haley’s dental needs.

Michael, a teen REACH coordinator at Haley’s Boys and Girls Club, could not just stand by and see this promising teen suffer so much pain and humiliation. He reached out to Tomorrow’s SMILESfor help. Sponsored by the Patterson Foundation and Philips Sonicare, Tomorrow’s SMILESis a teen program of the National Children’s Oral Health Foundation: America’s ToothFairy (NCOHF), providing at-risk adolescents with comprehensive oral health services to prepare them for healthy and productive futures. Through this program, volunteer dentists provide pro-bono restorative services for prescreened, underserved teens, and have access to donated products from Invisalign and Nobel Biocare, including Procera.

“She is a remarkable young woman who is plagued every day by poor dental health,” Michael said. “Her poor oral health negatively impacts her physically and emotionally. The physical pain distracts her on a daily basis, and the constant teasing from her peers erodes her self-esteem. The opportunity to participate in Tomorrow’s SMILES would mean the world to her, and she deserves it.”

Michael gave Haley the program application and she returned it to him the very next day. Thrilled with the possibility of having a beautiful, pain-free smile, Haley made a special trip to the club to turn in her application. “I would love to be able to smile and show my teeth without feeling embarrassed. I would be so much happier if my teeth didn’t hurt all of the time,” she said. “It would be a big honor if the Tomorrow’s SMILES program helped me with my teeth.”

Thanks to Laurie Gordon, DDS, and Neil Warshawsky, DDS, members of Alpha Omega International Dental Fraternity and volunteer Tomorrow’s SMILES dentists, Haley’s life is about to change. “It’s a pleasure to take care of her. Thank you for the opportunity to help her through Tomorrow’s SMILES,” said Dr. Gordon.
Haley, a Tomorrow's SMILES teen, and Dr. Laurie Gordon, Tomorrow's SMILES volunteer dentist

In return for life-changing oral health services, Haley will pay it forward by teaching oral health lessons to children in her community. As Tomorrow’s SMILES teens give back by serving as mentors and teachers to children, they will help break the cycle of pediatric dental disease.

Find out how your practice can help transform a teen’s needless pain and suffering into a beautiful smile and the promise of a brighter future by volunteering for Tomorrow’s SMILES. To learn more about Tomorrow’s SMILES, visit www.TomorrowsSMILES.org. Email Brenda Woodington at [email protected] to save a smile and change a teen’s life today!