Our Office
Our Office cares!
DeSoto Family Dental Care's commitment to the community in which we work and live is apparent by our enthusiastic involvement in community and charitable causes.
Since 2000, our dental practice raised over $40,000 for the Smiles for Life children's charity, which benefits sick and underprivileged children nationwide. The Smiles for Life Foundation is a charity organization of the Crown Council, an alliance of dentists throughout the U.S. and Canada who are dedicated to continuous dental education and community involvement. Each year, the Crown Council dentists donate their whitening services to the Smiles for Life Foundation.
Here's How It Works
Patients donate $250-$500 for the tooth whitening treatment, and the dentists donate their time and service free of charge. Discus Dental® provides the quality whitening materials, and the dentists pass along your 100% donation directly to Smiles for Life to help children nationwide.
Smiles for Life, in turn, sends half of the money raised by our office to the Garth Brooks’ Teammates for Kids charity, and the other half is sent to a local charity designated by DeSoto Family Dental Care. Local charities who have benefited from this program in the past include: Palmer Home for Children and The House of Grace.
We are also a very active supporter of education in our community. Hernando High School is our adopted school, and each year we sponsor a scholarship there for a financially deserving senior (the Tiger STRIPE Scholarship) to help off-set the cost of their freshman year of college. Amber Kowalsky was the recipient in 2004, and she is now an employee at our office while she works toward her teaching degree! Students at Hernando Elementary School are rewarded for good behavior in the spring by having their names put in a drawing for a huge stuffed animal donated by our office. Dr. Seymour personally supports educational development in our area by serving on the 2+2 Scholarship Initiative committee with Northwest Community College and The University of Mississippi and financially contributing to the DeSoto Economic Council’s Foundation for Excellence campaign, which supports teachers in our county’s schools.
The strictly-for-charity whitening services begins in our office March 1 of each year. You can access more information about Smiles for Life at their website: www.smilesforlife.org or call our office at 662.429.5239.
Smokeless Doesn't Mean Harmless
Dr. Seymour recently escalated his war on oral cancer by joining ranks with broadcaster and former major league baseball player Joe Garagiola.
Garagiola chairs Oral Health America's (OHA) National Spit Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP) which is partnering with the Crown Council and Minor League baseball to launch a major effort to reduce the high mortality rate of oral cancer. They are encouraging those at risk to take advantage of a new screening procedure that can detect abnormalities in the mouth before they become cancerous.
"Spit tobacco can cause oral cancer and oral cancer is a killer," said Dr. Seymour. "Of all the major cancers, oral cancer has the worst five-year survival rate--only 54%. However, like most cancers, if it can be detected early, the survival rates are greatly increased. The earlier it's caught, the better."
OHA, a Chicago-based national non-profit organization, reports that since oral cancer is generally not diagnosed in its early stages, less than half of all who have the disease are cured. With the advent of a new procedure, the brush biopsy, dentists now can make oral cancer screening a routine part of the semi-annual dental exam for their patients who are most at-risk for developing it.
"I'm excited that DeSoto Family Dental Care will be offering this simple and painless procedure through their practice. We have to spread the message that smokeless does not mean harmless," said Garagiola.
I cannot recommend strongly enough that people make an appointment to be screened against this disease, especially if they are tobacco users," said Dr. Seymour. "Our office offers the oral cancer screening as part of our patients' comprehensive exam." Seymour said.
NSTEP and minor league baseball have been working together for two years offering spring training presentations and educational print and video materials for players, as well as providing print and radio PSAs to clubs, and conducting public awareness events as pilot projects in select minor league markets.
This year, NSTEP and minor league baseball have solidified a unique partnership that will allow them to provide these proven program components to all 160 affiliated minor league clubs and 37 million Americans who comprise their fan base.
For additional information, contact the NSTEP website: www.nstep.org