OUR STORY
Welcome to our story. We are Samara, Kiryn, and Kaden, born and raised in the beautiful Woodinville, WA area. At Safe Smiles, we're on a mission to create a safe and fun environment for kids to play sports. But we don't stop there—we're also advocating for changes in laws to protect children and make wearing mouth guards as cool and essential as wearing bicycle helmets.
Our journey began one night at the dinner table. Our dad, a dedicated dentist, shared a story about a young patient whose teeth he had to fix for free because the boy wasn’t wearing a mouth guard, and his mother couldn’t afford the treatment. This sparked a deeper conversation, especially since our mom had recently attended a seminar on concussions and learned how recovery and outcomes look different depending on many factors including the families socioeconomic status and gender. Negatively affecting females and families with less dispensable income the most.
As volleyball players, we—Samara and Kiryn—reflected on how often we’ve seen girls dive for the ball, hitting their mouths on the floor. It made us question why mouth guards weren’t commonly used. Our brother Kaden shared that he was always afraid to play contact sports because he feared getting hit in the face and wished that mouth guards were required, as he didn't want to be the only one wearing one. This curiosity led us to research Washington state laws regarding sports safety equipment. We were shocked to discover that there were no specific laws! Most school districts just follow WIAA guidelines, and ironically, their recommendations on mouth guards didn’t align with those of The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD).
Determined to make a change, we founded Safe Smiles. We're committed to not only providing free, high-quality mouth guards to young athletes but also advocating for stricter laws to protect kids. We want to make wearing mouth guards a standard practice—cool and essential, just like bike helmets. By offering mouth guards in different colors and flavors, we aim to make protecting teeth fun and exciting. We want kids to know that it’s cool to protect their smiles.
Our parents shared that when they were young, there were no laws requiring bicycle helmets or even wearing seat belts in the car. However, once laws were put into place, perceptions started to change, and now wearing a bicycle helmet is normal. Likewise, we want to normalize wearing mouth guards by making them fun and appealing.