The Smiles Forever Foundation has implemented several community service projects throughout the years.

With the help of many US and Bolivian volunteers, the teaching staff and students of the dental hygiene school, rural communities in the area have benefited from education on proper oral health care and fluoride treatment projects.

Corani Pampa

Fluoride Varnish and DMF (Decayed, Missing, and Filled) Statistics Project

The Smiles Forever Foundation started a new community service project in the tiny village of Corani Pampa.

This project is composed of 4 different stages:

• educating the schoolchildren of Corani Pampa about proper brushing and general dental hygiene techniques;
• reinforcing that education by having the children practice with toothbrushes and toothpastes donated by the “SmilesForever” Foundation;
• and applying a flouride varnish for 250 children and adults on a 3-month basis and plans to follow the outcomes for the next two years. Fluoride has been shown to dramatically reduce cavities when given on a regular basis;
• DMF (Decayed, Missing, and Filled) statistic were taken in order to better evaluate the dental condition of the Corani Pampa population. We hope to return soon as our students continue to evaluate and plan their community service project there.
Read more on our blog.

San Juan de Dios

DMF (Decayed, Missing, and Filled) Statistics Project

Currently we are working on DMF statistics (Decayed, Missing, and Filled) of about 800 children in the San Juan de Dios community, a small, semi rural community. As numbers of children increase in the Madre de Dios Shelter, over100 more individuals compared to the first semester of 2008, inspires us to expand our efforts.

Amanacer

Fluoride Drops and Tablets Project

A community project providing 750 children residing at Amanacer, a home for abandoned, abused and orphaned children of Cochabamba, to receive fluoride drops or tablets.