The Challenge: When the shelter-in-place order was issued in Chicago in March 2020, dentists were among those forced to close for non-emergency situations to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Research showed this had an impact on the public’s perception of dental offices – a survey showed 58% of patients were concerned about contracting COVID-19 at the dental office. When dental offices were allowed to reopen in early May, the #SafeSmiles campaign was quickly conceptualized,