Great Start, Great Smiles!

We know – and you know – that teeth need to last a lifetime. But too many children in Michigan are losing their baby teeth to premature tooth decay, putting their dental health, nutritional health and overall health at risk. The scary thing is that tooth decay can be prevented. And one of the best things families can do is schedule a dental visit for their child before they turn one-year-old.

To raise awareness for improving children’s dental health, we are launching a “Great Start, Great Smiles" contest and we want you to get in on the act. Through the month of February – National Children’s Dental Health Month – we will be collecting and posting on our Great Start for Kids website and through Facebook and Twitter the greatest pictures of the most awesome, spectacular, outstanding children of Michigan – ages 0 to 5. Submissions are now closed but please check back to see our winners!

Send us your grinning, smiling, beaming kid photos. We want to see teeth – one tooth or lots of teeth -- shiny gums and smiles. And we will enter them in our “Great Start, Great Smiles” contest. Winners in a handful of categories will be selected by a panel of judges.

Here are a few simple rules:

Submit just one photo per child. This must be an original, electronic photo of your own child – no stock photos, please.
We want to see your child’s smile! Close-ups please! The focus of the picture should be the child’s smile so please ensure we can see them!
We celebrate early childhood here, so send us photos taken of your child from ages 0 to 5.
Categories: We will select “winners” in several categories, including Biggest Smile, Goofiest Smile, Happiest Smile, Most Unusual Smile and the Smile with the Most Attitude.

As we receive the pictures, we will post them on this website so come back and visit often! When we pick our winners, we’ll contact you to receive a gift bag of toothy treats – sparkle toothbrushes, a tooth fairy box, stickers, tattoos and more.

*** All submitted photos may be posted online and used in future publications by the Early Childhood Investment Corporation.

View the gallery!

CONGRATS TO OUR WINNERS