Brighter Smiles for Brighter Futures

"Dentists Curing Cancer One Smile at a Time"
 

Brighter Smiles for Brighter Futures is a teeth whitening program in which a patient makes a donation in lieu of paying for dental services. Our Gwinnett county volunteer dentists then provide a selected service, usually tooth whitening, for the patient. The dentists do not receive any compensation for the services provided for Brighter Smiles, 100% of the patient's donation goes to the Foundation.

Now in its eighth year, the Brighter Smiles program, has raised approximately $730,000 to support cancer diagnosis and treatment. If you are interested in whitening your teeth, please plan to visit one of our volunteer dentists during this program so that we can work together to meet your needs, along with the needs of those who are fighting cancer. The $250 donation is tax-deductible. The next campaign runs from October 2009 to January 2010.

Proceeds benefit Gwinnett Medical Center Foundation’s Project PATH, GMC’s vision for the future

Proceeds from the 2009 Brighter Smiles for Brighter Futures campaign will be used to purchase an ultrasound machine that will be housed in the new Women’s Imaging Center that will open at Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville in early 2010.

The purpose of this center is to provide all breast imaging services in one central location on the Lawrenceville campus. This project will not only add services to the Lawrenceville campus for breast cancer detection but will enhance the physical surroundings to provide a calming, relaxing atmosphere. The experience for a woman visiting this center can be very stressful as the findings from a diagnostic mammogram, ultrasound or biopsy can mean a cancer diagnosis.
 

The Center for Women’s Services will house the following;
•An expanded Center for Screening Mammography
•An expanded Center for Diagnostic Mammography
•Retail Shop offering wigs and prosthetics
•Resource Center with breast cancer related reading material, including the Breast Cancer Treatment Handbook that’s given to each woman diagnosed with breast cancer at GMC.
•Cancer Navigator
•Pet CT and MRI
•Operating Rooms dedicated to breast surgeries
•Physician offices including Oncologists and Surgeons.

As our community keeps growing, the need for women’s imaging services continues to exceed the current Gwinnett Health System service capacity. The better access our patients have to these important services comes earlier the detection of breast cancer which allows for an accelerated intervention, resulting in a greater chance of survival for the patient.

Gwinnett Medical Center, system-wide, performs approximately 23,000 diagnostic mammograms per year, however, with this expanded diagnostic center, we could potentially reach many more patients who need these important services. It is anticipated that upon completion an additional 4,500 diagnostic mammograms, 5,000 breast ultrasounds, and 765 breast biopsies can be performed per year.