World Smile Day

Nationwide collections are taking place today for the Cleft Lip and Palate Association of Ireland?and?Operation Smile. Why? It’s World Smile Day!

How many of us take our smile for granted? We take selfies, pose for photos without a second thought, perhaps the only concern being, ‘do I have anything stuck in my teeth??.

We spend money on dental work and teeth whitening, all so we can be proud of our cheesy grins.

But what if you were born without the natural ability to form a proper smile? Imagine some of your lip, gum, or palate hadn’t grown properly thus creating a problem with eating, talking and of course, smiling. And imagine having to have numerous surgeries over the years to correct this birth defect so you can feel confident in your smile.

Molly had multiple operations along with extensive orthodontics to correct her cleft lip, but look at her now (on the right in the photo above) – a stunning, expert selfie-taker!

So if you see these buckets, spare a thought and a few euro for those children who weren’t so lucky to have been born with the perfect beam. They need endless hours of costly treatment and therapy and it’s a charity often forgotten.

It’s something to think about next time we smirk. And remember, a smile spreads a mile.

Joaquin Phoenix certainly didn’t let his cleft lip get in the way of success, so let’s help others achieve theirs…. swoon.

#WorldSmileDay