2011 Annual Candy Buyback

Thursday, November 3^rd

4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
1425 Wakarusa Drive, Suite D
Lawrence, KS

For each pound of candy you donate, you are entered for a chance to win a great prize. One ticket for each pound of candy!

All candy will be sent overseas to military personnel. We are encouraging kids to write a letter to a soldier to be included with the care package. Other donations to our military will be accepted. Please feel free to wear your costume!

There will be lots of great prizes like video games, bowling passes, gift cards, etc. you can put your tickets in a drawing to win!

Bring your Halloween Candy to Growing Smiles!

All shipping and packing costs are generously provided by the UPS Store - 865-0004.

Free Fun at the 2nd Annual Growing Smiles Summer Bash - July 23rd from 9 - 12!

Attention all Growing Smiles Patients and Parents: Don't forget to come out this Saturday, July 23rd to the 2nd Annual Growing Smiles Summer Bash!

Free for all Growing Smiles Patients and Parents as a BIG thank you! (Bring a friend and an adult!)

Free food, games, prizes. And don't forget to have your picture taken with the KU Mascot!

It will be at the North LR Dad Perry Park (On Harvard between Monterey Way and Kasold).

Run time from Nine to Noon. Come for a little while or the whole time!

Here is the flyer for the 2nd Annual Growing Smiles Summer Bash:

Free Kids' Bike Race July 3rd on Mass Street during Tour of Lawrence

For more information, visit the Tour of Lawrence website.

Kids’ Bike Race will be organized and staffed by the Lawrence Bicycle Club. Age appropriated distances of 50, 100 meters or 1 mile will be offered. Bring your child and their Bike, Trike, Scooter or Big Wheel to race down Mass Street. Streets will be closed to automobiles creating a safe environment. Helmets Required. Medals to the first 250 racers. Everyone is a winner. Bib numbers will be given out and every participant is registered for a chance to win a free $100 gift certificate to Lawrence Cycle Works and a coupon for a free ColdStone Creamery ice cream and one for a free Chipotle taco redeemable at Chipotle’s two Lawrence locations. *Race requires a release form to be filled out for each kid.

Calendar Contest to Benefit Tiny-K

Draw a Picture to be Included in the 2012 Growing Smiles Calendar!

Instructions:

1. Have your little one draw a picture on 8.5 x 11 paper – landscape view. No limit to how many times you can enter!

2. The theme of the picture should be based on a month of the year. For example, for October, you could draw a picture of Halloween or Fall.

3. Make sure they sign their first name and age on the picture. Put your contact information on the back.

4. Drop it off at Growing Smiles by August 1, 2011. 12 – 24 pictures will be chosen and go on sale starting September 2011. All proceeds benefit Tiny-K.

Thanks to Printing Solutions for helping defer part of the printing costs. Any questions, call us at 785-856-5600!

Announcing the iPad Winner

Congratulations to The Graves family of Lawrence, KS for winning the Facebook/Twitter iPad2 drawing. After it was (finally) delivered they came by the office today to pick it up. A picture of the happy winners is above!

The family has been coming to Growing Smiles since 2008 and they plan to let everyone in the family (not just the kids!) use the iPad2. They plan to use it to write stories, play games and use all of those cool apps. When told they won, their first reaction was "Is this real?" Their favorite part about coming to Growing Smiles is the "prizes, movies and televisions at each chair and the games" in the waiting room.

Thanks again to all who participated and made this such a fun experience!

Growing Smiles Team Participating in Bowl for Kids' Sake

The Growing Smiles Team will be participating in the Douglas County Bowl for Kids' Sake fundraiser benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Douglas County on April 8th. The event is BBBS largest fundraiser in Kansas and benefits kids in need. If you would be interested in sponsoring the Growing Smiles Team, visit the website or give us a call at 785-856-5600.

Growing Smiles Presented to 1245 Kids During February!

We are proud to announce that we have completed our presentations for National Children's Dental Health Month. In February, we presented to 1245 kiddos about the importance of taking care of their teeth and gums. If you would like us to present at your child's school next year (generally pre-school or elementary kids get the most out of it) call us at 785-856-5600. Thanks especially to all of the teachers who shared there time with us!

Here is a list of the schools we attended in 2011:

One of a Kind

Kids First

New York

Woodlawn

Sunflower

Green Pastures

Googols of Learning

Pinckney

Prairie Park

Stepping Stones

Quail Run

Langston Hughes

Hillcrest

Princeton

Deerfield

Sneak Peak at the New Junior Jayhawks Logo!

You guys are the first to see the new Junior Jayhawks Logo!

Sipping, Snacking and Tooth Decay

Now more than ever, kids are faced with a bewildering array of food choices -- from fresh produce to sugar-laden processed convenience meals and snack foods. What children eat and when they eat it may affect not only their general health but also their oral health.

Americans are consuming foods and drinks high in sugar and starches more often and in larger portions than ever before. It’s clear that ―junk foods and drinks gradually have replaced nutritious beverages and foods for many people. For example, the average teenage boy in the U.S. consumes 81 gallons of soft drinks each year! Alarmingly, a steady diet of sugary foods and drinks can ruin teeth, especially among those who snack throughout the day. Common activities may contribute to the tendency toward tooth decay. These include grazing habitually on foods with minimal nutritional value, and frequently sipping on sugary drinks.

When sugar is consumed over and over again in large, often hidden amounts, the harmful effect on teeth can be dramatic. Sugar on teeth provides food for bacteria, which produce acid. The acid in turn can eat away the enamel on teeth.

Almost all foods have some type of sugar that cannot and should not be eliminated from our diets. Many of these foods contain important nutrients and add enjoyment to eating. But there is a risk for tooth decay from a diet high in sugars and starches. Starches can be found in everything from bread to pretzels to salad dressing, so read labels and plan carefully for a balanced, nutritious diet for you and your kids.

Reduce your children’s risk of tooth decay:

- Sugary foods and drinks should be consumed with meals. Saliva production increases during meals and helps neutralize acid production and rinse food particles from the mouth.

- Limit between-meal snacks. If kids crave a snack, offer them nutritious foods.

- If your kids chew gum, make it sugarless – Chewing sugarless gum after eating can increase saliva flow and help wash out food and decay-producing acid.

- Monitor beverage consumption – Instead of soft drinks all day, children should also choose water and low-fat milk.

- Help your children develop good brushing and flossing habits.

- Schedule regular dental visits.

The Link Between Your Smile and Overall Health

According to a recent study, dental experts have found a correlation between oral health and some serious diseases.

The ADA has noted that only 10% of the US population flosses everyday. Failure to properly floss can lead to swelling and inflamation of the gums which is called gingivitis. About 70 percent of adults have some form of gingivitis.

According to a recent article:

“When there’s chronic gum inflammation, bacteria byproducts start accruing around the roots of the teeth,” Dr. Levine describes. “If the wall of the gum tissue gets too inflamed, it can thin to a point where it’s permeable. There are these micro-cuts in the gum lining, almost like tiny cuts on your finger. With the gum opened, there’s a pathway — a portal of entry for bacteria to get into the bloodstream.”

The current thinking is that when these bacterial byproducts enter the bloodstream, they end up nicking the walls of the arteries. As the immune system dispatches its cellular soldiers to heal the nicks, there’s a cascade of inflammation that eventually leads to clot formations and plaque buildup in the arteries.

“There have been studies showing that the plaque from periodontal disease is the same plaque that builds up on the carotid artery,” says Dr. Levine. “So now you’re at risk for cardiovascular disease, or CVD. And if the plaque gets dislodged, you’re looking at the potential for a stroke.”

Good oral health habits start early! Make sure your kids brush and floss regularly so that they can avoid these serious health problems later in life. Most studies suggest that kids who brush and floss early in life and regularly visit the dentist will carry these good habits into adulthood. If you need any suggestions with how to help you kids with brushing and flossing, check out Teeth 101 on the Growing Smiles website!

Celebrating National Children's Dental Health Month

Every February, the American Dental Association (ADA) sponsors National Children's Dental Health Month to raise awareness about the importance of oral health. Growing Smiles is participating again this year by visiting local Douglas County elementary schools and presenting on the importance of developing good habits at an early age. Staff members use age appropriate puppets and talk with the kids about why teeth are important, how to keep teeth clean, what foods are healthy snacks and what to expect at their dental visit. Scheduling regular dental visits helps children get a good start on a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums! For more information on National Children's Dental Health Month, visit the ADA National Children's Dental Health Month Website. If you would like your child's class to be included in one of our presentations, please contact us at 785-856-5600.

What's in a Smile?

Interesting article in the New York Times about when and how we interpret smiles. A short excerpt from the article:

people recognize smiles by mimicking them. When a smiling person locks eyes with another person, the viewer unknowingly mimics a smile as well. In their new paper, Dr. Niedenthal and her colleagues point to a number of studies indicating that this imitation activates many of the same regions of the brain that are active in the smiler.

A happy smile, for example, is accompanied by activity in the brain’s reward circuits, and looking at a happy smile can excite those circuits as well. Mimicking a friendly smile produces a different pattern of brain activity. It activates a region of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex, which distinguishes feelings for people with whom we have a close relationship from others. The orbitofrontal cortex becomes active when parents see their own babies smile, for example, but not other babies.

So, smiling at each other does lead to positive feelings. Growing Smiles recommends plenty of them! To read more from the article, follow the link here.

The Importance of Early Dental Health

As an effective way to begin a lifelong program of preventive dentistry, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) recommends that dental visits begin with the appearance of a child's first tooth, typically around six months but no later than one year.

During the first visit, Dr. Kelli Henderson and her staff check for proper oral and facial development to determine whether teeth are growing in properly and to detect early tooth decay. It also gives the Growing Smiles team a chance to walk parents through a home dental care program for their children.

Early preventive care also is a sound health and economic investment. Studies show that the dental costs for children who have their first dental visit before age one are 40 percent lower in the first five years than for those who do not see a dentist prior to their first birthday. In addition, without preventive care, the impact of tooth decay on child development can be striking. Numerous studies have linked childhood cavities with lower than ideal body weight. Even more disturbing is evidence that the effects of poor oral health may be felt for a lifetime: emerging research suggests that improper oral hygiene may increase a child's risk of eventually having low-birth-weight babies, developing heart disease or suffering a stroke as an adult.

In addition to regular dental visits, Dr. Kelli Henderson recommends that parents take the following precautions to help prevent tooth decay in children:

• Brush your child's gums twice a day with a soft cloth or baby toothbrush and water even before the first tooth appears.

• Talk to Dr. Henderson about your child's fluoride needs.

• If you must put your child to sleep with a bottle, use nothing but water - other beverages can damage teeth, leading to cavities.

• Never dip a pacifier into honey or anything sweet before giving it to a baby.

• The best times for your child to brush are after breakfast and before bed.

• Limit frequency of snacking, which can increase a child's risk of developing cavities.

• Take good care of your own teeth. Studies show that babies and small children can catch cavity-causing bacteria from their parents.