Micah, before treatment.

Bullied for years and enduring cruel taunts from her classmates, Micah cried herself to sleep every night. The teasing grew worse with each passing day. Then her peers resorted to cyber bullying, calling her names and posting their harsh words online for all to see. Called "Tiger Teeth" by her peers, she found making friends difficult and suffered in pain every day. "No one wants to be around the girl with ragged teeth," she once remarked. Suffering at school and enduring severe dental pain each night, she couldn't escape the agony and shame that besieged her.  

Devastating for an adolescent struggling to fit in and prepare for a successful future, the consequences of poor oral health can compromise a teen's self esteem and social development. Teens suffering in pain resulting from poor oral health have difficulty sleeping, eating and concentrating in school. Suffering from the pain and embarrassment of her ugly smile, Micah lacked confidence and hope for a happy, successful future.

Her teacher and mentor at her local Alabama Boys & Girls Club had known Micah for several years and knew that she needed help. Micah was a bright student and worked well with all the children at the club, so her teacher reached out to the Tomorrow's SMILES program for help.

Tomorrow's SMILES helps restore smiles and self esteem while encouraging teens to take responsibility for their oral health. Caring volunteer dentists provide pro-bono restorative services to a pre-screened ambitious teen. Tomorrow's SMILES volunteer dentists also have access to generously donated products from Invisalign® and Nobel Biocare™ (including Procera®) to help restore the smiles of pre-screened, promising teens.  

In return for receiving this life-changing care, participating teens Pay It Forward by sharing their newfound oral health knowledge through interactive oral health lessons with younger children in their community. Pay It Forward enables these teens to serve as mentors and teachers to children, encouraging good oral health habits that will help them maintain beautiful, happy smiles throughout their lives and help break the cycle of pediatric dental disease in their own community.  

Micah is now getting the care she needs through Tomorrow's SMILES. Under the care of Dr. Keith Calvert and his team, she now has hope and excitement about her future. Micah has this to say this about her career goals and wanting to become a teacher, "I can't wait to have my teeth fixed so that people can hear what I say instead of being distracted by my teeth".

Help transform a teen's needless pain and suffering into a happy, beautiful smile and the promise of a brighter future by volunteering for Tomorrow's SMILES. Look for more updates on our Tomorrow's SMILES teens in your Curve Dental emails. To learn more about Tomorrow's SMILES, visit  www.TomorrowsSMILES.org. Email Brenda Woodington at bwoodington@ncohf.org to volunteer to save a smile and change a teen's life today!

Katherine Eitel

"We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing."

This week, take your work very seriously... just don't take yourself quite so seriously!   Have some fun. If recent world events have done nothing else, they have surely reminded us that life is best lived one day at a time, very much in the present moment.

Patients sense when dental teams are happy, enjoy and like one another and are having a good time doing something they love and patients like the way it makes them feel. They instinctively assume that when dental professionals are relaxed and even playful that everything must be going well and according to plan. It makes you appear confident and in full control.

However, do be careful with humor as it is easy to cross the line of professionalism. Always exercise your good judgment when telling jokes or making funny or sarcastic comments. There is nothing unprofessional about having a great time at work. As a matter of fact, I think it can be unprofessional to be altogether too serious. It causes patients to feel judged and tense.

So this week, lighten up! Whistle, sing, play a harmless "funny" on a coworker. Post a joke in the team room. Wear some silly hats or shirts on holidays like St. Patrick's Day or Save the Whales Day. A friend who recently spent a lot on his dentistry, posted a note on the dental chair before the dentist came in to seat his last set of crowns that read, "Dental chair donated by the generous financial contributions of Jeff Emerson." Another client office, who was utilizing the Bonus Bag incentive program (which was supposed to contain only two $50's), asked the dentist to write down the "pull" for the day. As the bag was passed around the room and the dentist was carefully noting each bill drawn, he finally said, "Wait just a minute! There aren't six $50's in that bag!" It was April Fool's Day. Little things like this help us all enjoy the journey on the way to our destination.

And by the way, they got to keep the $50's!

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