Community Grant in action
Children’s Dental Health in Cambodia
With a generous grant from The Noven Foundation, Together We Can Change the World (TWCCTW) in conjunction with Cambodia Community Dream Organization (CCDO) has established a dental program for school children in rural Cambodia near Siem Reap. The Noven Foundation grant benefits more than twenty primary schools and over 5,000 children.
A dentist from TWCCTW screened over 120 children, finding over 80 percent had visual dental decay and a significant number were in pain. This dental program addresses the dental needs of these children.
Dental Education.
The first part of the program involves establishing a dental hygiene program in the schools. Teachers are trained to teach and provide a preventative dental hygiene program in the schools. The students are taught about the need for good oral hygiene. Each school day the students, under supervision, brush their teeth with toothbrushes provided through the grant.
Dental Screening.
The second part of the dental program is dental screening by a trained dental professional at each school. Children who are in pain or have severe dental needs are transported to the Siem Reap Hospital Dental Clinic for dental care to eliminate pain and provide needed dental treatment. All the students who were in pain have been treated to eliminate their pain and ongoing dental treatment continues.
“This dental program through a grant from The Noven Foundation has been a tremendous success eliminating dental pain and establishing a preventative dental hygiene program in the schools to help eliminate dental disease and keep these children from becoming dental cripples at a young age.”
— Steve T., TWCCTW board member