Shy girl with a big smile.

My dentist gave me back more than a tooth. He gave me back my confidence. Not everyone gets that chance.

Why I wrote this book.

I broke my front tooth doing a flip into a pool in Florida the summer I was eight. I was scared and far from home, and we couldn't find a dentist there, so I waited a few weeks, hiding my smile, until my family could get me back home to New York. That wait taught me something I have never forgotten: I only had to wait a few weeks for the care I needed. A lot of kids wait years.

When my dentist finally fixed my tooth, he gave me back more than a tooth. He gave me back my confidence. I am shy by nature, and my smile is how I connect with people, so losing it even for a little while made me realize how much it mattered. That is why I wrote this book, and why I want to be a dentist someday: so other kids can feel like themselves again too.

Not everyone gets the chance I had.

Here's something I didn't know until recently. For millions of families, dental care is out of reach. Adult dental coverage in safety net programs varies hugely from state to state, and even kids who are covered on paper often can't find a dentist who can actually see them.

That's not just a health issue. It's a confidence issue. It affects how kids show up at school, how people feel in job interviews, how someone walks into a room.

Use this book and this community to raise awareness for organizations that provide dental care to children who need it.

The Day My Tooth Broke!

A picture book inspired by my own broken tooth. It's about a girl who breaks her tooth on vacation, faces her fear in the dentist's chair, and learns that bravery doesn't mean you aren't afraid. It means you do it anyway.

Smiles matter more than people think.

In my freshman year research class, I studied the connection between smiles and confidence. I surveyed high school students and orthodontic patients in my community, and the results were featured on the cover of the Roslyn News Times and in the Jericho/Syosset Tribune in 2025.

Survey of local high school students and orthodontic patients. Not a scientific sample, but the pattern was loud and clear: confidence lives in your smile.

“Alexa Mermelstein all smiles after treatment”

The Roslyn News Times featured my research on how orthodontic treatment connects to confidence and mental health, and the story behind it: a tooth I cracked as a kid that turned into a research project and a goal to become a dentist.

Want to be part of this?

My Brave Smile brushing chart

A free 4×6 card for classrooms, troops, and dental offices. Kids color a circle every time they brush for two minutes, morning and night.

Request a visit, a copy, or a partnership.

Alexa will reply by email.