Smiles 4 Canada is treating Blane Eisnor. The 12 year-old, said his teeth 'really hurt' when he applied for help, to pay for his braces.
Photo Credit: Andrea Edwards

Smiles 4 Canada: Orthodontists formalize pro bono work

Smiles 4 Canada is the name of the program the Canadian Association of Orthodontists created to help people who can’t afford the treatment.

Dr. Stephen Roth, president of the Canadian Foundation for the Advancement of Orthodontics, says a lot of orthodontists have always done pro bono work,

The psycho-social issues involved in having a nice smile and being confident in your smile is probably what’s most important

“But there hasn’t been really a program in place to recognize what the orthodontists are doing or to make sure that… their efforts are going to the cases that are most in need and that would most benefit from treatment.” he says.

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There was a pilot project first in Atlantic Canada. Now they’ve expanded to include British Columbia, the prairie provinces and Ontario. With more media attention to the program, the response has been huge,

“In the last couple of months we’ve received 97 applications and we’re working our way through them right now but we’ve already identified that we’ve been able to match 17 with local orthodontists.”

He says they’re excited to be able to coordinate the effort. Treatment can begin as young as 9 or 10 years old. “We certainly have some patients that are having difficulty chewing their food or there’s pain,” he says.

The psycho-social issues involved in having a nice smile and being confident in your smile is probably what’s most important about orthodontics, says Dr. Roth.

He has witnessed the transformative effect, recalling one of his first patients, a young girl who was so self-conscious about her smile that they had difficulty taking a photo.

“During the course of the treatment as her teeth were getting straighter and her bite was becoming more comfortable you could just see how much more energetic she was, how more alive she was, and she was smiling more and she got a boyfriend and she joined the cheerleading team and it was really rewarding to see such a big change in this young girl.”

People interested in the program can apply on the web site. The applications are processed through an administration centre in Toronto that matches low-income young people to orthodontists in the regions who’ve agreed to provide pro-bono care.

One of the applicants to the program was a single-father with two young daughters. “I could really tell he’s doing everything he can to help his daughters”, Dr. Roth said. Like his earlier patient, one of the man’s daughters was very self-conscious and wouldn’t smile in photos.

“This young father is working two jobs and having a hard time making ends meet and not able to afford the orthodontics so, these are the types of patients that this program can help.”

They also contacted the groups that were coordinating dental benefits for the recent Syrian refugees to make them aware of the program and there are some current applications.

“It is rewarding for the orthodontist as well to know that they’re making these changes in someone that wouldn’t be receiving them otherwise.

Dr. Roth knows from experience what it’s all about. He wanted some work done and had a colleague in his office treat him.

“It gives you a new appreciation for just having, dealing with the issues that sometimes are a bit of a bother with braces; the wires poking in the cheek, and the brackets rubbing against the cheeks, and the teeth being sore, but it also gave me an appreciation for understanding the benefits that are happening, and being happy with the changes that you’re seeing. It also gave me my personal ability to see how much better I felt once my treatment was nearing completion.”

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