OrthoAccel Technologies Inc, Houston, has announced its new partnership with international children’s cleft charity Smile Train. The announcement signals the regional launch of the AcceleDent “Eco Give Back” program this fall.
Preselected orthodontic practices will participate in Eco Give Back by encouraging patients to return their AcceleDent devices, which contain lithium batteries, with the company making a donation to Smile Train for every device received. The returned devices will be properly recycled at an authorized recycling facility.
“When I polled our team about identifying a charitable organization with a mission that aligns with OrthoAccel, Smile Train was the uncontested response and I couldn’t agree more,” said Michael K. Lowe, president and CEO of OrthoAccel. “Their goal is our goal: Improving the journey to beautiful and healthy smiles.”
Lowe believes patients will be more likely to participate in AcceleDent Eco Give Back because they are not only getting their desired smile, but they’re also able to “give back” in two meaningful ways – reducing landfills and their negative impact on the environment while giving a child in need the opportunity for a healthy smile.
The regional launch of Eco Give Back precedes a nationwide launch of the program, which OrthoAccel is planning for 2015. With the FDA-cleared, prescription-only AcceleDent now available in more than 1,500 practices in the United States, company representatives anticipate the potential to contribute up to $100,000 to Smile Train in 2015, based on the number of AcceleDent patients who participate in the program.
Smile Train CEO Susannah Schaefer adds, “We are so thankful that OrthoAccel has chosen Smile Train to be their charity beneficiary as they help provide the world with beautiful smiles. Their commitment to our cause will make a life-changing difference for children with clefts in the developing world, as well as their families and communities as a whole.”