Walgreens teams up with Colgate on free dental screenings for kids

NEW YORK -- Walgreens is teaming up with the Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures Program to offer free children’s dental screenings and a $1 donation for every qualifying purchase made at Walgreens stores. 

The Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures Children's Oral Health dental vans will visit 66 Walgreens stores across Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago, providing free dental education, screenings and local treatment referral. All children screened will receive dental report cards and oral health kits that include toothpaste, a toothbrush and dental health materials.

Additionally, Colgate will invite Walgreens shoppers to help give students in need tools for a brighter future. For every Colgate Kids oral care product purchased at a participating Walgreens between Aug. 28 and Oct. 1, Colgate will donate $1 to the Kids in Need Foundation.

“Helping to educate children about proper oral hygiene habits has always been at the core of the Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures program,” said Dr. Marsha Butler, VP of Global Oral Health and Professional Relations, a dentist who oversees the Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures global program. “We are thrilled to work with Walgreens and the Kids In Need Foundation, which will enable us to educate communities and help more children in need.”

Kids In Need Foundation Executive Director Dave Smith said collaborations of this kind boost the organization’s ability to help students.

“Students need basic supplies to take advantage of educational opportunities, and that’s what we provide," Smith said. "With the help of Colgate’s Bright Smiles, Bright Futures program and their partnership with Walgreens, we will be able to help students who may never have had their own school supplies before. We appreciate this partnership because of its attention to education and to the well-being of children.”

Marking its 25th anniversary this year, Colgate’s flagship oral health education program Bright Smiles, Bright Futures is today among the most far-reaching, successful children’s oral health initiatives in the world.

With long-standing partnerships with governments, schools and communities, Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures has reached more than 850 million children across 80 countries with free dental screenings and multilingual oral health education since 1991.