Press Release – Salt Lake City, Utah – June 2017: Thanks to a partnership with the nonprofit Smiles Change Lives, local orthodontist Dr. Chase Dansie is giving local kids a reason to smile. Dansie Orthodontics will be holding an Open House to screen children in the surrounding communities for braces through Smiles Change Lives.
Smiles Change Lives is a national nonprofit that helps kids get braces who could not otherwise afford them. On average, braces cost $6,000 per child, making them out of reach for many hard working families. Further, orthodontic treatment has long been considered cosmetic by insurance companies, providing little assistance, even for those that are insured. As a result, many children and teens suffer unnecessary discomfort and embarrassment from their misaligned teeth. Smiles Change Lives’ mission is to provide these families with the opportunity to provide their children with braces through its network of over 800 volunteer orthodontists in the United States and Canada.
Established in 1997, Smiles Change Lives has had a presence in the Salt Lake City area for nearly a decade. Upon learning about the program in 2015, Salt Lake City area orthodontist Dr. Dansie stepped up to help in a major way. Dansie Orthodontics has renewed its commitment and agreed to treat 50 kids through his practice over the next year. An Open House will be held in order to screen children for the program.
The Open House will be held on August 5, 2017 from 8am-12pm at Dansie Orthodontics at 11996 S. Anthem Park Boulevard, Ste 100, Herriman, UT 84096. Families who meet the program qualifications for Smiles Change Lives are encouraged to attend and bring their child, a copy of their 2016 tax return (listing their child as a dependent) and a $30 application fee to the screening or they can submit an application in advance, which can be found at www.smileschangelives.org/apply.
To qualify for the program, a child must be between the ages of 7-21, have good oral hygiene, not be wearing braces currently, have a moderate to severe need for braces, and meet certain financial guidelines (e.g., for a family of 4, their household income must be below $61,500).
In the words of a mother whose daughter recently completed treatment, “On behalf of myself and daughter, please accept our deepest thanks for a life changing experience for my daughter. She smiles all the time now and has a sense of confidence I’ve never seen before. To everyone responsible please know that you have helped another child regain a huge part of herself back. She may go on to change the world in a better way now; just like SCL did for her.”
To date, Smiles Change Lives and its network of orthodontists have helped more than 10,000 kids receive braces in the United States and Canada. Please watch this short video to learn more: http://www.smileschangelives.org/scl-overview-video.
