Lawless Orthodontics proves Smiles Change Lives by helping community

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A local orthodontist gives back to the community by proving Smiles Change Lives.

Lawless Orthodontics hosted their annual Smiles Change Lives day, allowing the community an opportunity for their kids to get examined for braces.

“Many of the kids are honestly surprised when they come in and they’re actually getting the braces on because it’s something that they’ve been looking forward to for quite some time,” Dr. Jay Lawless says.

However, as many kids will tell you, getting all this work done on their mouth is not that fun. So Dr. Lawless decided to have a couple of furry friends, Bo & Rocky, on hand to ease the stress.

“Of course you don’t have classes in school about what it takes to put braces on. So everybody’s a little unfamiliar with it. So to have these two guys here to comfort them and let them know that everything is OK really makes a difference… it starts calming them down,” he says.

Parents are also seeing the impact this program has on the community, giving them the opportunity to get something they may not be able to afford otherwise.

“Knowing that there’s local people that still do charity like that is great… We probably would not have been able to afford something of that magnitude had this program not been available,” Ricky York says.

His wife Jessica added “We appreciate Dr. Lawless so very much for accepting us in the program… so yes, we cannot wait to get this started.”

Their daughter Kenzie got braces, while their son got a consultation to start the process of getting his.

Dr. Lawless says he’s honored to provide this program for families who help him so much in return.

“Getting them started and actually finishing treatment… we just finished a couple of treatments for people this week actually that are part of the program… but it’s rewarding to get back to the community that has given, of course, so much to us and put smiles on people’s faces that ordinarily are kind of trying to hide their teeth or their smile so that gift of confidence is the best we can give,” Lawless says.