Teethsavers International is a nonprofit organization focused on caring for children in developing countries by promoting a healthy smile, thereby improving overall health. Their primary purpose is to teach children, adults and educators about dental techniques that are simple, inexpensive and realistic considering a lack of normal dental equipment.

Background

The phrase “teach a few to teach many” is Teethsavers International’s motto. Their strategy to reach as many children as possible is to teach a few people from each country, so that they may educate to their own villages.

Teethsavers International took it upon themselves to come up with their own techniques and ways to educate on oral hygiene, in order to effectively reach as many as possible. Their desire to facilitate change is clear when comparing their expenses in developing countries to those of the U.S.

By The Numbers

For example, dental school in the U.S. for four years can cost $110,000 while Teethsavers dental school costs $2,500 for one year. A tooth filling in the U.S. costs $75 where a Teethsavers Atraumatic Restorative Filling (ART) is two dollars.

These realistic techniques are paramount for these educators to understand. There is an extremely large amount of children unable to receive any kind of dental care, leading to many oral diseases, including tooth decay and gum diseases. Tooth decay is the single most chronic childhood disease, as it is 20 times more common than diabetes and four times more common than early childhood obesity.

To put in perspective the importance of educating people in developing countries, consider the ratios of dentists to patients around the globe. Compared with the U.S., where there is one dentist to every 1,900 people, in Belize there is one to 7,100 people, in Zambia there is one to every 57,000 people and in Malawi there is one to every 105,000 people.

Local Impact

Recently, Teethsavers International ventured to a primary school in Kabwabwa. They used songs, visual dialogue and interactive activities to teach the children and their parents about the importance of oral hygiene and how a person’s mouth is truly the “window” to their overall physical health.

The Teethsavers International Director, Fred Sambani, directly spoke to the primary school, as well as helping pass out toothbrushes, and the school was very thankful. The Kabwabwa Primary school head teacher, Joyce Mgusha said “We are very happy that they have distributed toothpaste and toothbrushes to pupils. These instruments will motivate them to clean their teeth and have good health. When pupils are in good health they tend to perform well in class.”

Teethsavers is a wonderful organization with a vision and they are effectively taking steps to facilitate change by creating happy and healthy smiles.

– Emilie Cieslak
Photo: Pixabay