Colgate Brings Smiles to Gulf Coast Kids

One of the heartening things about big name brands is that they can often do a lot of good.

For example, Procter & Gamble's Dawn dishwashing detergent is helping clean birds affected by the Gulf Coast oil spill. P&G's Tide laundry detergent's "Loads of Hope" program helped people in the same region who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina get their clothes clean.

Now Colgate-Palmolive, makers of Colgate toothpaste, is bringing its "Bright Smiles, Bright Futures" campaign to Gulf Coast children with the help of three New Orleans Saints football players.

More than 600 children in New Orleans and Mississippi's Hancock and Harrison Counties will receive free dental screenings, oral health education and treatment referrals this weekend, courtesy of Colgate.

It'll be fun, too: Kids will board Colgate mobile dental vans amidst a backdrop of mardi gras-style music and costumed characters. They'll be cheered on by Jonathan Vilma, Pierre Thomas, and Marques Colston of the Saints. Participants will also brush their teeth with the Saints stars.

The Gulf Coast activities are part of a national program launched by Colgate in 1991 that uses volunteer dentists in eight mobile dental vans to screen children and promote good oral health. Colgate-Palmolive says it has reached more than 100 million children and their families in the U.S., and reaches 50 million children each year in 80 countries.