Steven Thompson DDS Holley NY Dentist

Local Dentist Helps to Raise More Than $15 Million for Children

Holley, NY – News Flash: dentists are giving away more than free toothbrushes these days. In fact, this year local dentist Dr. Steven Thompson, a member of the Crown Council, helped to raise approximately $1.5 million to be given to children's charities across North America.

Since 1998, the Crown Council, a prestigious alliance of leading-edge dentists, has raised more than $15 million for children's charities through their innovative Smiles for Life Campaign. During Smiles For Life, participating Crown Council dentists perform high-quality tooth whitening services for their patients and donate 100 percent of the proceeds to children's charities. In 2003, nearly 700 Crown Council dentists participated, including Dr. Steven Thompson.

"As a proud member of the Crown Council, I look forward to participating in Smiles For Life every year," said Dr. Thompson. "Our community had been incredibly supportive and giving, helping me to raise money for this important cause. It's great to know that I am not only providing a useful service for my patients, but am also helping children receive the kinds of opportunities that every child deserves."

Tooth whiten is the most requested dental procedure in North America, generating an astounding $750 million a year. According to the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD), consumer demand for professional whitening has increased more than 100% since 1996. As innovators in the dental community, Crown Council dentists are leading this recent boom in professional whitening and are capitalizing on the popular and profitable service to help at-risk children. Discuss Dental, America's leading manufacture and distributor of tooth whitening products has joined the Crown Council's effort, and donates their new ZOOM! Weekender Kit to Crown Council dental practices participating in Smiles For Life.

The Smiles For Life Foundation works in conjunction with Garth Brooks' Teammates For Kids Foundation to distribute all of the money raised to more that 300 children's charities. Charities have included the Starbright Foundation, an organization that helps seriously ill children combat medical and emotional challenges, St. Judes Children's Research Hospital, a research and treatment center for children with life threatening illnesses, and Little League Baseball's Challenger Program, an organization working to provide healthy activities for disabled children while teaching team work and citizenship.

This year, for the first time, Crown council dentists participating in Smiles For Life also offered Toothprints, a new child identification tool, to parents receiving teeth whitening services during the campaign. Toothprints is a thermoplastic wafer designed by a pediatric dentist to record a child's dental records, DNA and scent for identification purposes should the child be abducted or go missing. Thousands of children received Toothprints as part of this year's Smiles For Life campaign.

The Crown Council is an international roundtable of dentists strongly committed to promoting oral health, fighting oral cancer and serving their communities through charitable work. Dr. Thompson is proud to be a Crown Council Member.