Smiles for Life
Written by Sarah Ottney | Managing Editor | sottney@toledofreepress.comYouth Leadership Toledo will benefit from each smile whitened by a Sylvania dental office over the next several months.
Brookview Dental is participating in a nationwide fundraising program called Smiles for Life, in which all proceeds from teeth-whitening from now through June will be donated to charity.
“If you’ve ever thought about having your teeth professionally whitened, there’s no better time than right now,” said Dr. Peter Urbanik.
Urbanik, a member of the current Leadership Toledo class, owns the practice at 7135 Sylvania Ave., in Sylvania, along with Dr. Brad Barricklow and Dr. Todd J. Schultz.
Half the proceeds from the whitenings go to the Smiles for Life Foundation, which supports the work of children’s charities across the U.S. and Canada, including the Children’s Miracle Network, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospitals and the Kids Cancer Care Foundation. The other half is donated to a local charity of the dental office’s choice.
This year, half of the money collected will be donated to Youth Leadership Toledo, a program of Leadership Toledo that works with young leaders at area high schools, helping the teens realize their full leadership potential in their schools and communities.
Brookview is the only dental office in Northwest Ohio participating in Smiles for Life. This is the second year the office has participated. It also donated to Leadership Toledo last year.
“Last year we kind of got our feet wet with it and were able to raise about $1,800, half of which went to Leadership Toledo,” Urbanik said. “This year, our goal is $10,000, so we’ve set our sights quite a bit higher, but we’re not going to stop there. We’d go forever if we could.”
All professional whitening supplies for Smiles for Life are donated by Discus Dental.
“These are the same professional materials we use to whiten teeth year round,” Urbanik said.
The usual fee for professional whitening is $170, but Brookview Dental will accept whatever a patient decides to contribute, said practice manager Shane Ferguson.
Both Urbanik and Ferguson said it’s important to Brookview to give back to the community.
“Our office just has a very high mission to give back to community,” Ferguson said. “We just believe in that. We’re serious about collecting some serious money to give to our community.”
The Smiles for Life Foundation is a children’s charity associated with the Crown Council, an organization of leading dentists in North America. The foundation has raised more than $27 million since 1998, benefiting nearly 500 children’s charities across North America, according to a news release.
For more information, visit www.brookviewdental.com or www.smilesforlife.org or call the office at (419) 885-1115.
