Give Kids a Smile Day brings healthy grins to Buffalo youth

Tooth fairies and life-sized teddy bears can mean only one thing — the return of the School of Dental Medicine’s “Give Kids a Smile Day.”

The annual event, now in its 15th year, will welcome more than 600 children — including nearly 400 Head Start students — and hundreds of volunteers, including UB dental school faculty, staff, students and private dentists and their staff who are donating their time to provide care.

The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 5 in the lobby and dental clinics on the first and third floors of Squire Hall, South Campus.

Throughout the day, children will receive free dental treatment and cleanings. While they wait, kids can enjoy hands-on activities and games, watch dental videos and receive oral health instruction from Mr. Tooth and UB Bulls mascot Victor E. Bull.

In addition to Rep. Brian Higgins, guests will include Erie County Health Commissioner Gale R. Burstein and Ann Costello, director of the B. Thomas Golisano Foundation.

“We are in a profession where being kind is a daily responsibility,” says M. Dian ChinKit-Wells, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pediatric and Community Dentistry.

“We are a group of people who are always on the search for an opportunity to serve the community and make others happy. It means one less kid with cavities, one less teenager with a toothache and one less unhealthy smile.”

Give Kids a Smile Day, held in partnership with the American Dental Association, New York State Dental Association and Eighth District Dental Society, is part of a national effort to teach children good dental health habits while they’re young to avoid major oral health problems later in life.