Preventive oral health program for rural children

On August 28, Fundación Salud Oral (FUNDASO) brought its Preventive Program to the Escuela Oficial Rural Mixta Aldea el Stillero/CO. Situated on the south coast of Guatemala, the Aldea El Astillero is a small community in in the municipality of Guazacapán where the primary farm crop is sugar cane. We chose this region because its children have a particularly high rate of cavities and tooth decay.

The school’s authorities asked FUNDASO to come because so many of their children suffered from serious, chronic dental pain. Parents in this impoverished region often do not have the resources needed to travel to distant communities and pay for dental treatment.

After we evaluated the site for the necessary conditions to run the Preventive Program mobile clinic, the teachers told us how much community members need to learn to prevent dental problems very early in the lives of their children, who start eating and sucking on sugar cane long before they begin school.

With that in mind, we applied all available preventive measures, giving first priority to the youngest children. We then treated the older students, who already had a significant amount of cavities.

A number of dental volunteers—students in their last year of dental study—joined our team for the clinic. They brought dental hygiene kits (toothbrushes, paste, floss, etc.) to the children and trained the teachers to be monitors of the children’s health by practicing dental hygiene with their students every day.

Our team treated the children with pit and fissure sealants and fillings to prevent new cavities and acute tooth decay. We also applied topical fluoride to reduce susceptibility to decay, and taught all of the children through interactive chats and educational videos.

Fundación Salud Oral is grateful to everyone supporting us through Global Giving. Your help is treating and preventing dental pain and bringing a lifetime of dental health to children in need all over Guatemala.