The SEAL Cambodia project is funded by CamKids and the Global Child Dental Fund, with materials and supplies provided by GC Asia and Colgate, to provide sealants on the first permanent molars of up to 60,000 Grade 2 children over a three year period.
At present, the average Cambodian 6 year old has 9 decayed primary teeth and the average 12 year old has 3.6 decayed permanent teeth, mostly affecting the first permanent molars. Most children have no access to dental treatment and by the time they are in their teens, need to have one or more of their permanent teeth extracted when the decay becomes too deep. The Seal Cambodia project aims to prevent decay from developing in molar teeth through early intervention by providing fissure sealants on the teeth of Grade 2 Cambodian school children.
To date our delivery partners have provided treatment to children in more than 36 primary schools located in Phnom Penh and this is being extended to include children in Kampong Cham, Kampot and Kampong Speu. Our team of dentists, dental nurses, assistants and dental students provide not only sealant protection for the children, but also oral health education and tooth brushing instruction. Every child receives a free toothbrush so that they can continue to clean their teeth at home. Parents are informed if there are dental problems identified requiring ongoing treatments at a local dental clinic.
During the five months to February 2014, 9,810 children were treated with 20,618 children in total to date and we have therefore achieved the goal of treating over 20,000 children before 20 March 2014, which is International Oral Health Day. As the cost of the fissure sealant, toothbrushes and toothpaste are donated by our partners and much of the work is undertaken by volunteer Cambodian trainee dentists, the cost of treating each child is only $1. A regular donation of only £5 per month will allow us to treat an additional 100 children per year. If you would like to support this valuable work, please contact us.
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