The Philippines Dental Outreach
Presentation Category
Community Oral Health
Introduction/Context/Diagnosis
access or afford dental care.
Our intention of starting UoP’s first Philippines Dental Outreach trip was to improve the standards of dental and oral health in the Philippines. We achieved this by providing free dental care to Filipinos who cannot afford or access treatment. With the Philippines being a third world country, the standards of dental health are low compared to developed countries around the world. By the age of six, 97.1% of children have tooth decay and 77% of Filipinos have never been to the dentist.
Methods/Treatment Plan
We worked with the Rise Above Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Cebu, and local dentist to help us set up and organize a five day dental clinic in the gymnasium of an elementary school in a small village. The volunteer group included 23 UoP dental students and 4 faculty members including an oral surgeon, two general dentists, and a pediatric dentist.
Results/Outcome
hroughout the five days we treated 268 children ages 6-12 years and completed a total of 418 extractions and 389 restorations.
Significance/Conclusions
To continue improving the standards of dental health in the Philippines, our ultimate goal was to create a sustainable, annual trip for UoP. To ensure sustainability, we fundraised enough money for the next trip, chose qualified students to lead the next trip, and created a planning manual to maintain consistency throughout the planning and execution of each trip .
Format
Event
The Philippines Dental Outreach
access or afford dental care.
Our intention of starting UoP’s first Philippines Dental Outreach trip was to improve the standards of dental and oral health in the Philippines. We achieved this by providing free dental care to Filipinos who cannot afford or access treatment. With the Philippines being a third world country, the standards of dental health are low compared to developed countries around the world. By the age of six, 97.1% of children have tooth decay and 77% of Filipinos have never been to the dentist.
