Growing Smiles Featured on the News!

Just a quick update to the candy buyback program. We were featured on Channel 49 in Topeka. If you would like to view the video, click here to see it. You can also click here to read the story. Thanks again to everyone who participated! We sent it out to the troops and they should be receiving it shortly.

Toys-For-Tots Drop-Off

For the Fourth Year in a row, Growing Smiles is a drop-off location for Douglas County Toys-for-Tots.

Please bring a new, unopened toy to Growing Smiles at 1425 Wakarusa, Suite D. The last day we will be accepting toys for the program is December 20, 2010. All toys and money donations go to children in and around Douglas County.

We are looking forward to helping this great program. Please call us at 785-856-5600 if you have any questions.

Over 500 Pounds of Candy Donated By Growing Smiles Patients!

On November 3, 2010, over 200 families showed up to Growing Smiles to donate candy to our military personnel overseas during the Candy Buyback Program! We collected over 500 pounds of candy (and probably eliminated a whole bunch of cavities too!)

Here is a picture of just part of the candy we received:

The kids had a great time getting a ticket for each pound of candy they donated. Then they entered it in a raffle to win a cool prize, like an XBox 360, a Nintendo DS and lots of other cool prizes.

Thanks again to all of those who participated and to the winners of all the neat prizes for making this such a fun event. We also collected several letters from kids to our service men and women that we will include with the care package. If you missed the event, we will be doing it again in 2011!

Growing Smiles Candy Buy Back - November 3, 2010!

Growing Smiles Candy Buyback!

Wednesday, 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!

Prizes Include:

- Xbox 360 courtesy of CD Tradepost

- Nintendo DS Handheld Game!

- Video games, movies and more!

- Hundreds of Silly Bandz!

- Lots of other great prizes!

Bring your Halloween Candy to Growing Smiles!

Toys-For-Tots Drop-Off at Growing Smiles

For the third straight year, Growing Smiles is proud to announce we will be a drop-off location for Toys 4 Tots of Douglas County.

Toys 4 Tots is a national toy drive run by the United States Marine Corps to help collect gifts for children who would otherwise not receive gifts this holiday season. The Douglas County Toys for Tots Program began in 1990 by a group of local volunteers. Since there is no Marine Corps Reserve Unit in Lawrence, the Douglas County program continues to rely on volunteers, is sanctioned by the Toys for Tots Foundation and follows all the guidelines of the National Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots. Douglas County Toys for Tots has no official office or paid staff, all administrative costs are self funded. All donations made directly to the local group remain in our community and all money collected is used solely to purchase toys.

In 2008 Douglas County Toys for Tots distributed approximately 7600 toys to 1903 children and teens in our community. We collected 4560 toys, received toys from the national foundation, and spent and additional $21,500.00 on toys.

Please bring a new, unused toy to Growing Smiles at 1425 Wakarusa Drive, Suite D.

To find other locations around Douglas County, click here.

To make a donation online, click here.

FDA Reaffirms the Safety of Amalgam Fillings

Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reaffirmed the safety and effectiveness of amalgam fillings.

George Washington's Teeth: He didn't need any fillings!

According to the American Dental Academy, the FDA ruling "issued today categorizes encapsulated dental amalgam as a class II medical device, placing it in the same class as gold and tooth-colored composite fillings. "





"Dental amalgam is a cavity-filling material made by combining mercury with other metals such as silver, copper and tin. Numerous scientific studies conducted over the past several decades, including two large clinical trials published in the April 2006 Journal of the American Medical Association, indicate dental amalgam is a safe, effective cavity-filling material for children and others. And, in its 2009 review of the scientific literature on amalgam safety, the ADA's Council on Scientific Affairs reaffirmed that the scientific evidence continues to support amalgam as a valuable, viable and safe choice for dental patients." Read the entire ADA statement here.





Amalgam fillings or "silver fillings" are a valuable tool in the appropriate situation. Growing Smiles also uses composite or "white fillings" in the appropriate situation or when the parent prefers them for aesthetic reasons. Feel free to discuss any concerns or preferences you may have with me or with my team members regarding any issues you may have with your child's dental treatment at Growing Smiles.





Read the full FDA release by clicking here.





Click here to read the full statement by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.

Kids and Snacks

Here is an interesting article published in The Washington Post. Dentists weighed in about what kids should and should not eat. These foods don't have to be totally eliminated from the diet - just limit them and brush/floss!

Brush. Floss. Repeat for Years.

I asked four dentists with extensive experience what they would banish from kids' diets:

- Soda and Gatorade. "Pure sugar-delivery systems," is how Dana Greenwald described them. "Get your child to become a water drinker," says Brian Brumbaugh.

- Raisins, or anything that sticks to the pits and grooves of the teeth.

- Anything that the child eats after his or her teeth are brushed at night, especially milk in a bottle. This is a major cause of early-onset tooth decay.

All four dentists said that two minutes of tooth-brushing is ideal for children. All four also allowed how difficult it can be to get a child to brush for anywhere near that long.

Flossing is even more of a challenge, mostly because children don't have the fine motor skills to do it. Try flossers, brightly colored plastic wands with a length of floss at the end. "Just because you're not flossing the traditional way doesn't mean it's bad," Samaddar says. "If you do it some way or another and it's marginally effective, it's still more effective than not doing it at all. Ideally you want to do it seven days a week, but if you're doing it four days a week, that's pretty darn good."

Click here to read the full story.