Nuevas Sonrisas: What we do

Each year in the spring, the Nuevas Sonrisas team travels to the rural town of Santa Catarina Mita in southeastern Guatemala.  Over a one-week period we work with our Guatemalan colleagues to provide a variety of dental services to more than 4,000 elementary school children who normally have access to little or no dental care.

We have been going to the same community since 2008 and have created a close working relationship with the parents, teachers, the local health department and local government.

The main focus of our care is prevention. We partner with the local health department on two mobile teams to apply fluoride to children and provide dental education to children, their parents, and teachers in the schools.

We work closely with local schools to promote good dental health and daily toothbrushing habits, providing on-going education to students and their parents. The whole school community is also included in our efforts.  We are able to provide toothbrushes and toothpaste to all schoolchildren, thanks to very generous support from Colgate-Palmolive Guatemala.

We set up a full-service dental clinic in a community space. Children are bussed in from surrounding community schools for treatment and education. In our clinic, sealants and fluoride, two of the most effective prevention measures available, are applied. In addition, fillings and extractions are provided for all children who need more treatment.

We are responsive to the needs of the community. When the Municipality asks us to include other underserved rural schools, we have expanded our team to provide the additional services.

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