One of the greatest gifts a person can give is a smile. To the team at Once Upon A Smile, it can represent confidence, comfort, and gratitude. While the team uses their dental expertise to improve the health of their patients, they know that there is more than one way to brighten someone’s day.
In April 2024, Dr. Tiffani Uberroth became the owner of Once Upon A Smile and introduced seven core values for the practice: Best Today, Better Tomorrow, We > Me, With Integrity, Positive Vibes Only, Kindness=Confetti, Give > Get, and Gratitude Attitude. Guided by these principles, the team wanted to find ways to give back. They began organizing community drives to support the Blue Springs community and small businesses that welcomed them.
The team kicked off its outreach with a Bingo Food Drive for Harvesters Community Food Network. Their desire and passion to give back has only grown tenfold, expanding to toy drives for Children’s Mercy and school supply drives for James Walker Elementary. “At this point, it doesn’t really feel like an occasional project anymore,” Dr. Uberroth explained. “It’s just become part of who Once Upon A Smile is. We’re always looking for practical ways to give back and use the little corner of Blue Springs we have to do some good.”
Recently, Once Upon A Smile collaborated with Lead to Read KC, collecting books for children from preschool through eighth grade. “Children’s literacy is something that really means a lot to us,” Marketing Director Dani Kreglo shared. “We’ve always been big supporters of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and that very simple idea of getting books into kids’ hands early and helping them develop a love of reading.”
These community projects have brought the values at Once Upon A Smile to life while showing the team and the community just how much of an impact they can have. “One of the things we’ve learned through these projects is that people really do want to help; sometimes they just need a convenient opportunity to do it,” Dr. Uberroth said. With their generosity and effort, Once Upon A Smile provides opportunities for people to help their community, in ways that are simple and impactful.
As both Blue Springs and Once Upon A Smile continue to grow, Gratitude Attitude becomes even more meaningful. “That’s probably what we’re most thankful for—the chance to care for people, build real relationships, and be part of a community that is so willing to show up for one another,” explained Dr. Uberroth. “We get to help create smiles in more ways than one, and that’s something we never want to take for granted.”
Looking ahead, Dr. Tiffani Uberroth and the team at Once Upon A Smile plan to continue supporting the community that they call home, showing that a smile is so much more than dentistry.