Smile Generation dentists and Pacific Dental Services team members recently returned from a weeklong trip providing dental care to the people of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia.
The Smile Generation dental care team that traveled to Ethiopia included three general practitioners, one oral surgeon, and one pediatric dentist, along with 11 Pacific Dental Services team members.
While in Tigray, the team collaborated with dentists and dental students at the Ayder Referral Hospital, a teaching hospital for the College of Health Sciences at Mekelle University. Together they served nearly 2,000 patients, providing treatments that included extractions, fillings, and hygiene. Patients included adults and their children, members of the military and border patrol, and children from the local school for the blind.
Henry Schein Cares provided supplies and dental equipment, such as sterilizers and Nomad portable x-ray units, to the university to be used for treatments and as part of the continuing education for the Mekelle University dental students. The Smile Generation team will continue to partner with Mekelle University and Relief Society of Tigray (REST) to provide equipment, supplies, and training to help improve oral healthcare in the region. Procter & Gamble Crest Oral B provided toothbrushes and toothpaste to give to the local patients.
As part of the outreach trip, the members of the Smile Generation team were able to visit two villages in various stages of clean water projects. The clean water projects are the result of the partnership between Smile Generation and charity: water, a nonprofit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries. For every Cerec CAD/CAM restoration completed in a Smile Generation office, a donation is made to charity: water.
