News (Blog)

Kerr has committed product to the 2010 Season of TeamSmile.  Details to follow.  Thank you Don Hobbs of Henry Schien Dental!

Kansas City, Mo.—If Dr. William Busch gets his wish, every city in America will soon have its own TeamSmile program.

Since 2006, TeamSmile has "teamed up" with professional and college sports teams to provide underserved children with free dental care, treating more than 4,000 children at events in seven states.

 

 

	Happy smiles: Dr. Conrad Journee and dental assistant Ashley Sullard, both of Liberty, Mo., pose with patient Darin following his treatment at the Kansas City Team Smile event in July.

This past summer, the organization partnered with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kansas City and the city's Don Bosco Community Center, which runs a summer day camp for area kids, and the Kansas City Youth Advocate Program. The July event featured 15 local dentists and dozens of other dental professionals—including students, hygienists and assistants—who treated 300 area children. TeamSmile also held events in Bourbonnais, Ill., and Milwaukee.

For many of the children, TeamSmile is the first contact they've had with a dentist. Since you never get a second chance to make a first impression, Dr. Busch said he makes sure to impart that wisdom to all of the volunteers.

"One event like this could change a life," he said. "You can either have a good dental story or a bad story—which is it going to be? One of the best things I've ever heard is a child who just got an extraction say, 'This is the best day of my life!' "

"Working with these kids is fun. That's why I'm here," said Dr. Conrad Journee of Liberty, Mo. A general dentist who works in public health, this was his third TeamSmile volunteer experience.

The event was sponsored by Willie Wilson Baseball, the Kansas City Royals, DEXIS, D4D Technologies, Henry Schein Cares, Colgate, Biolase and UPS. Following treatment, the children and their families were given tickets to the Royals home game that night against Tampa Bay as well as entry into the Royals Hall of Fame Classic.

Another thing Dr. Busch likes to tell TeamSmile dentists is not to be shy about passing on their office information. According to him, only about 10 percent of the patients take him up on his offer to provide free follow-up care. Of that 10 percent, few ever come again.

His hope is that by making TeamSmile more mobile—the program recently added a TeamSmile van—they can bridge the barriers facing so many children.

"It's so important," he said. "Not only for their oral health but also that these kids feel good about themselves."

	Going to bat for kids: Retired major league baseball player and catalyst for the Kansas City event Willie Wilson takes time to sign autographs at the Team Smile event.

Kids began registering at 8 a.m. sharp—many of whom were brought by their parents, who learned of the event from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kansas City.

"I think I'm going to have to get a filling," worried 7-year-old Mahquiya, "but Mom's making me come."

Her brother, 10-year-old Mahoik was bummed to miss the major league game.

Mahoik had to miss out on the opportunity to attend the free games because his Little League team was in the playoffs and undefeated.

Their mother, Connie Davis, was just happy that all of her kids—she also brought her 17-year-old daughter Titianna along—were seeing a dentist.

"I think things like this are awesome," she said. "A lot of families can't afford health care and even if you have state assistance, there's not a lot of providers."

Titianna nodded in agreement. "I just want the pain to stop," she said, pointing to the right side of her face. She later underwent an extraction.

One of the nice things about having a tradition—TeamSmile and the Royals hope to do the same event in 2010—is listening to the rave reviews from the volunteers and participants.

"Everyone's already excited about next year," said Dr. Busch, who not only got to work closely with all the athletes, but also had a chance to get in the ballgame.

For this event, the Royals donated more than $10,000 and the team's Kauffman Stadium served as a treatment center. TeamSmile also received a $25,000 donation from the United Parcel Service Foundation.

The Royals got involved with TeamSmile at the behest of former player Willie Wilson, who learned about the organization from Dr. Busch, his personal dentist. Mr. Wilson thought that the opening of the Royals Hall of Fame, along with the team's Hall of Fame Classic (an exhibition) would provide the perfect backdrop for TeamSmile.

Said Mr. Wilson, "I [was] proud to do my part to help deserving kids get the treatment they need."

More than 200 children received free dental care and other health and educational services at the dental charity linked with yet another professional sports franchise.

By Stan Goff, Executive Editor

 

 

 

Despite all the efforts to reduce pain, and improve the décor and the atmosphere at practices, children generally don’t have a blast while visiting the dentist.

But thanks to TeamSmile’s recent efforts, hundreds of underserved children are not only getting some much-needed dental care, they are indeed having a blast in the process. TeamSmile capped off a three-event-in-three-weeks run with its first-ever joint venture with the Chicago Bears on Saturday, Aug. 1 at the football team’s training camp on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill.

Co-founder Dr. Bill Busch joined nine other volunteer dentists—along with several volunteer hygienists and plenty of support from dental manufacturers—to help hundreds of children receive free dental care. Dr. Busch helped run outreach programs the previous two weeks at Major League Baseball events with the Kansas City Royals and the Milwaukee Brewers.

“I think this couldn’t have gone any better,” said Dr. Busch, who along with Henry Schein Dental’s Jason Krause started TeamSmile in 2006. “It seems like these keep getting better and better. This is the busiest I’ve ever been in my life. It’s been crazy, but opportunity waits for nobody.”

With the Chicago Bears' Bears Care program working with Catholic Charities, the latest TeamSmile event delivered more opportunities than in the past. Not only did more than 200 children register for the dental care, but the Bears event also tied in to a Back to School Fair that featured free hearing and vision exams, school supply kits for the children, and several booths for reading programs, Girl Scouts, fire safety, and even free haircuts from Trend Setters, a business located in nearby Bradley.

“Now we’ve got the complete picture,” said Dr. Busch, whose friend DJ Kirby from Kansas City, along several players from the Bears and head coach Lovie Smith, was on hand to help entertain the kids. “These kids can get their hair cut, their ears and eyes checked and their teeth checked. We’re going to send them back to school with big smiles. We offered the complete health solution for the kids today. It’s a step in the right direction.”

Large screen TVs, loud music, raffles and Bears players all contributed to making the event a big success, but more importantly, helped the children have a blast even while awaiting their dental care.

With DJ Kirby playing the music and handling the raffles along with Bears players, children danced to the tunes along with the Bears mascot Staley the Bear. In fact, volunteer dentists and hygienists could be seen dancing to the music in between delivering treatment.

“I guarantee this is the most fun you’ve ever had on a dentist visit,” DJ Kirby yelled through the microphone while children danced in front of the stage along with the Bears mascot, who earlier did push-ups along with a trio of hygienists and a Henry Schein volunteer who helped the children leave the event with bracelets containing their electronic dental records.

Schein supplied the DEXIS sensors and the hand-held Nomad x-ray systems and also donated USB bracelets so that the children could take their records home with them after receiving their care.

“A big part of what Henry Schein does is work with the community and give back,” said Jason Gelfo-Klein of Henry Schein Cares. “This is a great event. We’re part of something larger here with the whole back to school theme.”

It takes more than just volunteer workers to run a TeamSmile event, it also requires equipment and supplies necessary to deliver the dental care and having a big name like Colgate on your side doesn’t hurt either. A Colgate dental van was used for dental screenings and the participating kids also received Colgate backpacks that included a football, a toothbrush and some school supplies.

The latest in dental technology also was on hand as a Biolase WaterlaseMD was used by Dr. Brian Danielewicz frequently at the Bears event, while a patient received a same-day crown delivered by the E4D CAD/CAM chairside system at the Brewers event. A number of other manufacturers provided equipment including Midmark sterilizers, 3M ESPE curing lights, and the caregivers had a variety of electric handpieces and loupes at their disposal to help deliver the best possible care.

Event coordinator Helen Mohr said the Bears stop was a great finish to a whirlwind couple of weeks which left her exhausted. But she’d do it all over again in a heartbeat after seeing so many children get helped.

“I haven’t slept much in two nights,” Mohr said as the Bears event came to a close. “But this does make you feel good. There was a mother this morning who had a teenager who couldn’t get anyone to take his braces off. They took care of him today and his mom was so happy she was crying and I cried too.”

But thanks to the Bears player visits, the music and the raffles—not to mention the great care delivered—most people involved did a lot more smiling than crying.

“We had 9-10 players plus Lovie (Smith) and this is a very busy time for them,” Bears Care Director Marge Hamm said of the nice turnout from the football team. “The event was great. Staley was a huge hit. I think Staley and DJ Kirby have a little bit of a future together.”

Chicago Bears team dentist Tracy Durrett, a newcomer to TeamSmile, was thrilled to be a part of the special event. “Obviously Bill is the veteran guy here and this was my first time,” the Lake Forest, Ill. dentist said. “We had a ton of volunteers and for most of them this was their first time. That being said, it went real well.”

Dr. Durrett liked helping the kids and he also liked working in a fun atmosphere. “This is a neat way to give back,” he said. “A lot of kids need a lot of work and this is a good start.

“And that DJ was great. I’ve got to hire him for my practice. The kids had a good time. It was rockin’ for a while and the docs were into it.”

Like DJ Kirby announced earlier, it was clearly as much fun as you could possibly have while visiting the dentist.

Stan Goff is executive editor for DPR. Contact him at sgoff@advanstar.com.

On August 1, Bears Care, Catholic Charities – Diocese of Joliet, and TeamSmile hosted a Back-to-School Fair on the campus of Olivet Nazrene University for nearly 1,000 deserving students from the Kankakee area.  Over forty area social service agencies participated and provided information and free services such as vision testing, diabetes screening and haircuts to those in attendance.  Dr. Bill Busch and Team Smile offered free dental health education, digital x-rays and screening, and provided a wide array of state-of-the-art dental treatments onsite to the kids free of charge, including fillings, extractions and root canals.  A DJ provided music and videos to entertain the crowd, and prize giveaways, face painters and games added to the festive mood.  The Fair also featured visits from Head Coach Lovie Smith and several Chicago Bears players including, Anthony Adams, Jason Davis, Dusty Dvoracek, Israel Idonije, Tommie Harris, Brad Maynard, Adewale Ogunleye, Adrian Peterson, and Matt Toeaina. As the children departed they each received a box containing all of their school supplies for their upcoming year and a healthy lunch!  In addition to Catholic Charities and TeamSmile, support was also provided by Gallup and Midwest Dairy Association.

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers didn't play on Thursday but another team was busy out at Miller Park.

There is nothing unusual about a bunch of kids at the ballpark flashing their team spirit.

What was a bit odd was that the seats are empty, the field was bare and the doctor was in.

By the end of the day, dentists saw more than 200 children at Miller Park.

They got treatment, screening and dental health education.

It was about $140,000 worth of care at no cost.

The dentists are working out of a portable clinic. They had all their tools and supplies. There was even a machine that can make crowns for the kids in just a few minutes.

All this, is the work of TeamSmile. The nonprofit works with sports organizations across the country, to give children free dental service.

"Fifty percent of the children have never been before, and the other 50 percent just have sporadic appointments and treatment," TeamSmile cofounder Dr. Bill Bush said.

"Were you scared coming in?" WISN 12 News reporter Patrick Paolantonio asked.

"Yeah," patient Jorge Valles said.

"And what about now?" Paolantonio asked.

"Nah, not too much," Valles said.

Former Major Leaguer, Willie Wilson is a big supporter of the mission and the kids.

"People do care. People do help. And so when they get a little bit older, they can care and help some other kids too," Wilson said.

Brewers centerfielder Mike Cameron donated money and Wisconsin dentist's volunteered their services so this could happen.

The children were all pre-selected from the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee.

Non-profit organization adds events in 2009 thanks to plenty of support from dental manufacturers, volunteers, pro sports

by Stan Goff, Executive Editor

When times get tough, it’s often much more difficult to find enough support to help causes that count heavily on donations and volunteer efforts.

But that is not the case with TeamSmile, a non-profit organization that plans to expand this year and help as many needy children get dental care as it can. TeamSmile, a dental outreach and flagship program of Henry Schein Cares, kicked off the 2009 calendar year with an event tied to college football’s East-West Shrine Game in Houston back in January.

Now it’s ready to kick off a full slate of professional baseball, football and golf events this summer and fall, starting up with a July 17 event with the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, and followed up with a Milwaukee Brewers event the following week at Miller Stadium. For specific times and registration information visit the TeamSmile Website.

Henry Schein’s Jason Krause, who co-founded TeamSmile along with Dr. Bill Busch of the North Kansas City Dental Group (drbusch.com), said it’s a testament to the good cause and a great dental community that TeamSmile is expanding even in tough economic times.

“In an economic downturn it’s amazing to see people still sticking with their philosophy of doing good and giving back,” Krause said. “Our program is a true testament to that. We had six events last year and were hoping to have 10 this year.”

The group’s first big event was built around a Kansas City Chiefs football game in 2006 and thanks to enthusiastic support from dental volunteers, manufacturers, insurance companies and the Chiefs organization, 130 low-income and homeless children were screened and 40 were treated on the spot.

Donated materials, services and equipment from the likes of Colgate, Henry Schein Dental and MetLife make it all possible, along with dental volunteers that include dentists, assistants, hygienists and dental students.

Krause said TeamSmile is now “all paperless and driven through Dentrix ” practice management software. Dr. Busch adds that Henry Schein’s OATS (Office Automation and Technology Solutions) has agreed to donate laptops and other computer equipment to TeamSmile as the program expands.

One of the new stops this year is at the Chicago Bears training camp in Bourbonnais, Ill., on Saturday, Aug. 1. Marge Hamm, Director of Bears Care, said TeamSmile is helping fill a void that was caused when some area back-to-school fairs were discontinued this year due to a lack of funding. The TeamSmile Bears event is working with Catholic Charities to provide underserved children from the area with dental, medical, back to school supplies, and a one of a kind football experience that will feature visits by Bears football players and team mascot Staley “Da Bear.”

“The TeamSmile opportunity came to us via our community relations department and it’s a new and exciting opportunity for all of us,” said Hamm, of the event that will include Colgate backpack give-aways, a DJ, games, prizes, the Gatorade training camp experience, the Colgate Toothpaste cannon shooting T-shirts out to the children, and more.

Henry Schein Dental, Colgate, DEXIS, D4D Technologies and Willie Wilson Baseball are among the groups helping make the Royals event next month possible, while a PGA golf event with Justin Timberlake joins up with TeamSmile for a second straight year in Las Vegas to provide much-needed dental care for children (Oct. 13).

As the program grows, so too does the need for volunteers and donations. If you’re interested in donating your services, money or dental equipment, visit teamsmile.org and join the team. Photos and videos of past events also can be found on the Web site.

OATS stands for Office Automation and Technology Solutions, it is a Henry Schien company that helps dental offices with their technology needs.  They have agreed to donate laptops and other computer equipment to the program as it expands.  "We are very excited about this new relationship; it will allow us to continue to grow the program", said Dr. Busch.  The entire TS program is based onthe electronic dental record.

KANSAS CITY, MO (February 23, 2009) – The Kansas City Royals will host the Royals Hall of Fame Classic presented by Willie Wilson Baseball and Farmland Foods on Friday, July 17 at Kauffman Stadium in conjunction with the grand opening of the Royals Hall of Fame.

The Classic, which will feature Royals greats in an exhibition game against former MLB stars, is set to start at 5 p.m. prior to the Royals-Tampa Bay Rays 7:10 p.m. game. Gates will open early for the event, giving fans an opportunity to tour the Royals Hall of Fame as well as watch batting practice prior to the Classic. The day’s special events will benefit TeamSmile, a non-profit organization that teams with major sports organizations to provide quality dental care to underserved populations, and Royals Charities. 

Royals Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Wilson will assemble a team of former Royals greats to play a roster of former Major Leaguers. Royals alumni scheduled to participate include Steve Busby, Dennis Leonard, John Mayberry, Jeff Montgomery, Amos Otis, Fred Patek, Paul Splittorff, John Wathan and Frank White. The roster of former Major Leaguers includes Bert Campaneris, Bobby Dernier, George Foster, Randy Hundley, Todd Hundley, Fergie Jenkins, Ron Robinson, Dave Stewart and Jon Warden.

“My former teammates and I are excited to return to The K and put on Royals uniforms again,” said Wilson. “There are several great dentists, organizations and companies that work to make TeamSmile a success and, with the help of Farmland Foods and the Royals, I'm proud to do my part to help deserving kids get the treatment they need.”

“Farmland is proud to be partnering with the Royals and Willie Wilson on this event,” said Ken Williams, Executive Director of Marketing for Farmland Foods. “We know Royals fans are excited about the completion of the stadium renovations and we are thrilled to be associated with the opening of the Royals Hall of Fame.”

During both games on July 17, the Royals will host a silent auction that will feature unique memorabilia including an opportunity to bid on the game jerseys worn by all the players participating in the Classic. In addition, the club will coordinate a pre-event online auction featuring VIP packages and chances to serve as the honorary first and third base coaches for the Classic. Limited edition numbered lithographs autographed by the Classic players will also be available for purchase on royals.com. Details of the events will be announced in the coming months.