What is TeamSmile?
TeamSmile™ is a growing cadre of dental health professionals in private practice who have joined with sports teams and organizations to provide access to ongoing, high quality dental care through volunteer efforts of its members and their practice with support from their vendors.  Events sponsored by teams and children’s organizations provide outreach services where immediate prophylaxis, assessment, and treatment. Dentrix records are provided for ongoing care and treatment options developed.
The serious, even fatal consequences of deferred dental care in young people have received growing attention.  One of those cases prompted a Kansas City general dentist, Dr. Bill Busch and Henry Schein MBA Jason Krause, to reach out to a few colleagues to find a way to make a difference.  The Kansas City Chiefs agreed to help sponsor and promote an event where volunteer dentists would provide outreach services at Arrowhead Stadium.  The first event treated 75 children, the second almost twice that number, and the third over 500.  Subsequent events have included the Kansas City Royals, the New Orleans Saints, and other college and professional sports teams are indicating interest in participation.  More than 30 volunteer dentists and their associates have provided more than 2000 children with care and treatment valued in excess of $1,500,000.00 since the program began.  TeamSmile™ was chosen in 2007 as one of the first dental outreach programs to be endorsed by the American Dental Association as part of their “Give Kids a Smile” project.
The organization has evolved from an event-driven concept to a formal organization dedicated to using the power of sports sponsorships to draw at risk children into first contacts that can generate ongoing relationships with established dental practitioners in the community.  TeamSmile™ dentists will generate electronic records data that can, with a simple “Most Valuable Patient” (MVP) card issued at enrollment, make each patient’s treatment records retrievable as the patient moves into a dental care “home.”  Moreover, each member dentist will agree to accept TeamSmile™  MVPs into his or her practice for pro bono or reduced fee care as a part of the community commitment TeamSmile™  represents.  The objective is to help make dental care stand out as important part of a child’s overall health, encourage children and their parents to participate through TeamSmile’s™ linkage with sports teams and events, and foster ongoing participation by placing lower income MVPs into the same ongoing care contexts that other children enjoy.