8-year-old cancer survivor gets to be Santa's dentist

2020 10 29 15 03 4669 Smiles Group2 400

Alex Carico, an 8-year-old cancer survivor from North Ridgeville, OH, got to be a dentist for a day and examined none other than Santa Claus, an ABC news story from Cleveland reported. However, Santa Claus hasn't been so "nice" to his teeth and had a lot of cavities -- likely due to all the Christmas Eve cookies he eats, according to Carico.

How did Carico get to be a dentist for a day? Earlier this month, Crest launched a holiday initiative called "12 Days of Crest Smiles" to provide dental care to people without access to dental services. The first patient was Carico, who was diagnosed with stage IV high-risk neuroblastoma in January 2018. After receiving treatment, he was declared cancer-free in February.

Carico has always wanted to be a dentist, according to his father Michael, and Crest reached out to make his dreams come true in partnership with A Special Wish Foundation Cleveland.

"I want to make everyone have a beautiful smile," Carico said in the news report. "Smiles bring hope to the world."

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