Local Business, MySmileGuide.com, on Quest To Help Millions of People Improve Their Oral Health

East Setauket Business, MySmileGuide.com, is Striving To Win A Grant Through Chase Bank's Mission Main Street Grants Program

Dr. Fred Ferguson helps kids learn about and improve their oral health through MySmileGuide.com. A competition from Chase could help the small business reach millions of new users.

East Setauket, NY – MySmileGuide.com, an online business founded by local dentist and SUNY Stony Brook professor Dr. Fred Ferguson, is competing for a $250,000 small business grant from Chase Bank. The bank’s newly launched program, Mission Main Street Grants, will award a total of 12 grants to winners of the competition.

Dr. Ferguson’s company, About Smiles, Inc., recently entered the contest with its oral health education and monitoring website, MySmileGuide.com. The company hopes to win the grant to help the website grow to reach millions of new users. MySmileGuide.com recently qualified for the “Mission Main Street Grants” competition by receiving more than 250 votes before the November 15th voting deadline (receiving 316 votes). People showed their support for MySmileGuide by voting online at www.MySmileGuide.com using Facebook Connect.

Grant winners will be chosen by an independent panel. The 2013 panel includes experts from Google, Chase, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations. MySmileGuide.com is a unique online tool that helps parents, kids, and others understand how their habits, diet, and lifestyle impact their oral health.

Dr. Ferguson, a practicing dentist and professor of pediatric dentistry at Stony Brook University, said that the grant would help MySmileGuide.com reach many more people on Long Island and across the U.S., in its mission to help millions of people of all ages to improve their oral health through better awareness and self care. As a pediatric dentist who has worked with high-risk kids for 30+ years, Dr. Ferguson said he created MySmileGuide.com because he has seen too many children (and parents) suffering with serious, but preventable oral health problems. These issues, which include early childhood caries, gum disease, and other more serious problems, can impact overall health, school performance and self esteem.

According to Dr. Ferguson “I was inspired to build MySmileGuide.com because oral health issues are now the most common chronic health problems affecting millions worldwide. With MySmileGuide.com, we can help people across the U.S. and around the world avoid these issues.” Winning the grant would help the company launch a Spanish language version of the site, build a new mobile app, and promote the service to many more partners on Long Island and beyond.

Major health insurance companies, such as Uniondale-based HealthPlex, Inc., have been offering MySmileGuide’s online tools to their plan members to promote oral health awareness and improved self-care habits. The site has also been used by several Long Island school systems.

Through Mission Main Street Grants, Chase will award a total of $3 million to 12 small businesses across America. In addition to winning $250,000 to help build their businesses, the 12 grant recipients will be eligible for a trip to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, CA for an exclusive small business workshop with Google’s online marketing experts. The 12 grant recipients will be announced in January 2014. Fans can show support by voting for MySmileGuide.com at its website or by visiting: www.MissionMainStreetGrants.com/business/detail/131098 by November 15th.

About MySmileGuide.com
Launched more than four years ago by SUNY Stony Brook dentistry professor, Dr. Fred Ferguson, MySmileGuide.com is based in East Setauket, NY. MySmileGuide.com is a unique, highly secure online education and self-assessment tool that helps parents, kids, and others understand how habits, diet, and lifestyle affect their oral health. Through partnerships with schools, universities, health insurers, community groups and other organizations, MySmileGuide.com improves access to (and awareness about) oral health solutions. The website is a service of About Smiles, Inc. For more info, please visit: www.MySmileGuide.com

About Mission Main Street Grants
Demonstrating an ongoing commitment to small business, Chase launched Mission Main Street Grants, a program that will award 12 grants of $250,000 to small businesses across America. By completing a business profile, a grant questionnaire, and meeting relevant eligibility requirements, small businesses will have access to special offers from the Premier Sponsor, Google. Chase is committed to helping small businesses so they can take big steps for their business and community. 
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