The Chiefs Community Caring Team, along with TeamSmile and the United Way hosted the 9th annual Hometown Huddle event at Arrowhead Stadium, which provided complimentary dental care and education to local youth in need.
"There were tons of kids at Arrowhead to get free dental work, meet some of the players, dance and just have fun," Dustin Colquitt said. "There was a DJ and all the kids were dancing, there were TVs on showing cartoons, plus, there were Play 60 stations set up to teach kids about eating right and staying active. TeamSmile, Shadow Buddies, United Way and all of these incredible dentists made this event awesome for these kids."
Local dentists closed up shop for the day to volunteer their time to children from all over Kansas City. Arrowhead Stadium's Tower Club was transformed into a mobile dentist office, serving 300 children in third through fifth grade.
"For some of these kids, they have never been to a dentist in their life," Barbara Mueth, Vice President of Marketing with United Way, noted. "There were some kids that needed cavities filled or needed teeth pulled and the TeamSmile volunteers were able to do complete dental work right at Arrowhead. These kids also get the chance to visit Dr. Busch, who started TeamSmile, in about six months and they will be able to come back to his office and he'll provide free checkups."
Dr. Bill Busch started the TeamSmile program after hearing about a young boy who died as a result of an untreated abscessed tooth.
"I was watching the news and saw that a boy had passed away when he was 12 back in 2007 in Maryland," Dr. Busch recalled. "He passed away from not having a baby tooth extracted because his mother didn't have insurance. It inspired me to try to do something and I had read that Dustin's mother was a dental assistant and his wife was going to dental school so I contacted him and said, 'We need to do something.'"
When Colquitt moved to Kansas City, he and Dr. Busch teamed up to help underserved children receive dental care.
"I wanted to get involved in the community when I first arrived in Kansas City and my mom is a dental assistant and my wife, at the time, was enrolled in dental school, so Dr. Busch and I connected to bring TeamSmile to the NFL," Colquitt said. "It's really expanded through the league and other sports teams."
To learn more about TeamSmile, click here.
