Miles for Smiles: Sinking Our Teeth Into Success

Remember, as a kid, when you would be super excited to check out of school or even miss a day completely when you had to have a dental examination? It was the best day ever for us as kids. Still, we didn't realize the potential consequences it could've had on us. it took a day of learning away and any new vital information that we would need to develop and grow into today's adults. As the parents, it was frustrating (even though you wanted the best for their children) to have to miss a half/full day of work to sit in a waiting room for what could've been hours on end. You would either watch your child mess up all the toys in the toy area or beg for you to take them to McDonald's afterward to have an oral examination of your child's teeth.

So, what has changed since then? Miles for Smiles, of course! Miles for Smiles is a mobile dental health care provider (dental office on wheels) that gears toward providing access to quality dental care to students. They don't have to leave campus at all (sorry, kids, what a bummer)! They come with a complete team that consists of a Dentist, Hygienist, Dental Assistants, and a Dental Administrative Staff; when MFS visits the schools, the visits include:

• Exams

• Cleanings

• Fluoride

• Sealants (prevents tooth decay)

• X-Rays (as needed)

• Fillings (as needed)

• Extractions (as needed)

• Crowns (only as needed)

• Oral Health Education

• Dental Report Card

• Toothpaste and Toothbrush

The Miles for Smiles team care about their young (and even older!) patients. They take the time to help them establish healthy dental routines that they will carry for a lifetime, maybe even sharing with future generations!

Of course, with any business, just like teeth, there is a lot of hard work that goes into it, especially if you want it perfect (like your smile, of course)! The MFS social media page needed a little tweaking and "straightening" (like teeth! Get it? Like… braces?) out to build a better online presence, boost their Facebook followers, and their marketing strategy. So, of course, with substantial pearly white smiles, we at Maltshop got to work! To help with social media marketing, Erin and Tyllor developed the captions that were to be used on the social media pages. At the same time, Tyllor and Dellanee worked together to create the graphics and the Instagram Highlight Story Icons, to post onto their IG page. All three developed ideas of what the visuals for each social media platform should consist of; what would be visually attractive, what would catch the viewer's attention, and help this business's social media stand out from the rest.

Even though social media marketing was the main focus for MFS, we worked on graphic design and print work for them as well. We were asked to create flyers with design and layout geared towards providing information to children in elementary and middle schools and MFS's other targeting residents in the SBC. The flyer explained the CDC guidelines and safety measures that the mobile dental office was taking to ensure every patient would be safe through the pandemic while continuing to receive the proper dental care they need. This helped to put the fear of potential COVID-19 spikes in the SBC and ensure parents and their children that their safety is MFS #1 concern (besides their teeth, of course). As with every project comes various challenges (good) and dedication to taking these challenges head-on. Tyllor, having to collaborate with both Erin and Dellanee on this project, explains what those challenges were:

"At first, it was a little difficult to decide how the graphics would look design-wise since they were just getting started on how their overall brand would look. But I used their colors, fonts, and kid-friendly aesthetic to successfully execute the right look for the graphics. Compared to coming up with the captions, the graphics were more my speed. I went through all of their social media to see how they usually write them and went based on that."

Of course, with the hard work and dedication from the team here at Maltshop, it was extremely satisfying to hear the praise and positive feedback from an MFS member. Dr. Jeremy Simms Alexander, DDS, who brought this concept of mobile dentistry to his native home of Shreveport, La, gave a lovely testimonial of the MSM team:

"Great energy!!!! They make our company feel like we are their only clients. We love Maltshop as a community partner with our company. As a business owner, I like how they don't nickel and dime us on every conversation. We truly are working together to create the best outcomes."

Yes, we are totally big cheesin' right now to the lovely words of Dr. Alexander! Why wouldn't we? Working with the company was enjoyable, and the outcome of it was indeed fabulous!