2014 has already been a great year at Smiles Change Lives. As of today, we have been able to get 470 kids in treatment thanks to our fabulous providers. Here is our list of those orthodontists who have really gone above and beyond this year!
- Dr. Burleson- KC
There’s so much to say about Dr. Burleson, who was the 2014 recipient of our “Distinguished Service Award.” Dr. B single-handedly removed the wait list in the Kansas City area through his “Share a Smile” program. For every child that started treatment in Dr. Burleson’s office in October of 2013, he agreed to take on a Smiles Change Lives kid for treatment. This means that 152 kids in the Kansas City area will be able to receive braces! Dr. B and his fabulous team have already taken on 40 children as new patients this year. Now that’s what we called “distinguished”! - Dr. Hannah-
Dr. Hannah has been helping kids through Smiles Change Lives for four years, but has really stepped up to the plate in 2014. His office is located about an hour and a half from Wichita, KS, one of SCL’s highest need areas. Not only did Dr. Hannah and his staff give up a day of work to do necessary screenings on the kids waiting in the area, he has also agreed to treat 6 of them this year! This is huge for families who have been waiting since 2007 to get treatment. Thank you, Dr. Hannah! - Dr. Markarian
Dr. Markarian is celebrating his 8th anniversary with SCL in the most awesome way imaginable: helping us reduce our wait time in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Dr. M and his staff are giving up an entire day of work in early June to screen around 18 patients. Not only is Dr. Markarian helping children in the greater St. Louis area, he will also be screening children in other parts of Missouri and Illinois who do not have a closer provider available. It’s such a pleasure to work with an orthodontist who is so dedicated to the SCL mission. - Associated Orthodontists-IL
It is because of offices like Associated Orthodontics that our wait time in the Chicago area has gone down to only 6 months! Dr. Soderquist, Dr. Casey, Dr. Cortopassi, and Dr. Jones have taken 4 SCL patients so far this year, including 3 siblings who had been waiting for a provider since 2010. This means that their offices accepted an additional patient this year. We love it when our orthodontists are so willing to help out their communities that they will take on extra children for treatment! - Dr. Struckhoff
Dr. Struckhoff in Independence, Kentucky helps kids out in the greater Cincinnati area. This year alone, five children across state lines will get life changing treatment from Dr. Struckhoff and her team. Struckhoff Orthodontics joined SCL last year and has already done so much for their community by taking on even more patients than they originally agreed to treat in their provider agreement. We look forward to working with Dr. Struckhoff for many years to come! - Dr. Derek Sanders
We love our docs all over the US and Canada, but it is really special when a provider in a high need area helps us tackle our wait list. Florida currently has the most number of children waiting for treatment. Dr. Sanders has assisted us with this by screening around 30 kids in the Miami area this year alone! In addition to helping us determine the orthodontic needs of these patients, Dr. Sanders and his team have accepted five kids for treatment. That’s two more than Dr. Sanders originally agreed to treat in his provider agreement! We are so grateful to have community-centered practices like Dr. Sanders’ as part of our organization. - Dr. Toombs-
Our Founding Orthodontist, Dr. Toombs has been with SCL since our beginnings 1997. Dr. Toombs has done so much for Smiles Change Lives over the years as both a board member and as one of our best provider advocates. Dr. Toombs and his staff also take on 20 new SCL patients a year. They have already started treatment on nine kids since January. 2014 is a big year for Dr. Toombs as he will be celebrating his 30th year practicing in the Kansas City area. Congratulations, Dr. Toombs! - Dr. Ensley
Dr. Ensley shows true commitment to the future of children in his community by screening 1 to 2 children per month and taking on 10 new SCL cases per year. Dr. E and his team have already taken on 4 kids in 2014 for treatment. This is crucial in the Portland area, where there is a 36 month wait for a provider. The office staff is also really on top of informing us about how each of our SCL patient’s is doing. It is great to work with an office that is passionate about helping motivated families, and we are lucky to have them as part of our organization! - Dr. Grant
Dr. Grant is one of our other providers in the Chicago area who has gone above and beyond her provider agreement this year. Dr. G and her fabulous office staff have taken on 4 new SCL patients in 2014. That’s two more than they originally signed up for when joining Smiles Change Lives! Dr. Grant’s office has already made a world of difference to children in both Illinois and Indiana. Patients in the Gary, Indiana area had been waiting for several years as they did not have any local SCL providers who were willing to take on more cases—until Dr. Grant stepped in! - Dr. Shehee & Dr. Callahan
Drs. Shehee and Callahan are fabulous orthodontic partners with SCL because they are so willing to screen children from their community in Pensacola, Florida! This part of Florida has one of our highest wait times in the country and the pair have also agreed to take on an additional patient for 2014. It is fantastic to partner with an office that is so responsive and so eager to do as much as they can to possibly help out. We also love the staff at Shehee and Callahan because you can tell they truly enjoy the work they do. They have their very own “Tooth Fairies” who travel around their community educating children about oral hygiene.