"We can no longer accept patchwork humanitarianism as the solution to global problems. It is important to invest in programs that are culturally sensitive, educate the population and encourage the population to develop and value their own country."

Sandy Kemper has been a Dental Hygienist in the Seattle area for more than 28 years. She made her first trip to Cochabamba, Bolivia in March 1999 with the humanitarian program Dental Seminars and Symposia in the hopes of offering her dental hygiene skills to impoverished women and children. Sandy was surprised by the lack of dental care prevention she saw. The following days were devoted to extractions of permanent and deciduous teeth by U.S. dentists. Her only equipment was a makeshift portable dental unit. Armed with a flashlight, two boards laid across two straight chairs, only hand instruments and a few donated dental supplies from her own office, she spent 6-8 hours each day seeing approximately 16 children each day.

Using her own resources, as well as money donated through local fund raising activities, Sandy Kemper returned to Cochabamba that year, bringing dental supplies and dental equipment to a homeless shelter for women and children. The dream behind Smiles Forever has started to become real.

In March of 2000, she was able to complete X-rays, dental cleanings, fluoride treatments and assess the need for restorative treatment of all 38 permanent residents.

September 2001 found Sandy returning to Cochabamba to test the water supply at each shelter for possibility of fluoride presence. Smiles Forever has since created and implemented a fluoride drop and tablet for more than 750 children within the Amanacer Shelter System. In 2002, private donations made it possible to create a two-chair, fully updated dental clinic “training center.” Many hygienists and other friends have joined Sandy’s cause since 1999.

Smiles Forever was incorporated as a non-profit organization in June 2000 and received its 501 C (3) status September 13, 2001. Smiles Forever became a non profit foundation in Bolivia in 2004 and is now recognized worldwide.

In 2002, Smiles Forever developed a two-year dental hygiene training program for indigenous young women living at the “Madre de Dios” homeless shelter in Cochabamba, Bolivia. A team of two Bolivian dentists, translators, and other Bolivian professionals teach and run the program year round. Volunteer Dental Hygienists from the U.S. and Canada designed the program and continue to teach on an ongoing basis.

Four dental hygienists completed their training in 2005 and are currently employed part-time while completing their general education. Two students have currently completed one year of training.  The Smiles Forever dental hygiene program was accredited in 2004 by the Dental Society of Cochabamba, Bolivia.

A transitional center has been created for dental hygiene students who are homeless to live for a contracted period of one to two years while completing the dental hygiene program. This allows students to be coached through this difficult period of adjustment and shown how to eventually live on their own.

With major funding from an International Rotary Grant and private donations, Smiles Forever Foundation has been able to build a new public dental clinic on the bottom floor of the transitional center in Cochabamba.

This new clinic contains three dental chairs in which Bolivian dentist provide dental services to the general Bolivian population.  Senior Smiles Forever dental hygiene students provide preventive services.  The clinic is slowly building a patient base. Patients are encouraged in prevention over restoration. The clinic provides all specialties in dentistry.

Bolivians are able to experience first hand how the program works and donate to the sustainability of the clinic and training center. After six months in existence, the clinic is able to pay for its own maintenance and supplies. All proceeds fund the existing Smiles Forever Dental Hygiene Training Program, the salaries for the dentists and faculty, equipment and supplies and provides free dental care to the homeless.

Smiles Forever is immensely grateful to the efforts of so many to be able to sustain an opportunity to provide young women an chance to learn a skill which will allow them to provide for their families and enhance thier lives. We hope to be able to take this educational model to other Third World Countries where opportunities for young women are scarce and the need for oral hygiene is great.