What We Do
Simple and Safe = Sustainable
SmileHigh Mission: To reduce the level of dental caries in all Nepalese children of remote communities by education and preventative strategies in order to increase their standard of living.
In any endeavour what you do is always most important. The concepts of empowerment and sustainability guide us in what we do. We have developed our strategies over time in order to maintain our mission.
Simple - in a cold, difficult environment, where our clinical work often takes place in centres and schools above 3500m sometimes without power and after three or more days trekking it is paramount that we keep things simple.
Safe - it is our responsibility to ensure that any intervention is 100% safe for the children we are providing services to.
Sustainable- SmileHigh has a commitment to long term success. The concept of sustainability is the most important guide for us. In order to be sustainable in what we do, it must be simple and safe.
By focussing on education and prevention that is simple and safe our intent is to reduce dental decay in the first place. Our clinical strategies are consistent with this and also focus on saving as many teeth as possible. Our clinical approach is to treat dental decay as a preventable and potentially reversible disease, using modern techniques, materials and technologies.
By keeping what we do in the field simple and safe we are able to use qualified Nepali dental therapists to deliver our services. This is achieved under the supervision of a fully qualified dentist. In this way SmileHigh is empowering local people to solve their own problems in a sustainable way.
We do not rely on the children to come to a clinic for an examination. If we did we would expect to see less than 45% on an annual basis and mostly only when in pain which is often too late. Instead we go to their schools and set up a basic clinic. Every child is given a free examination and treatment where appropriate and necessary, with a focus on saving primary-second molars and permanent teeth. Fissure sealants for protection are performed on permanent molars. All children are provided with free toothbrushes and fluoride toothpaste. Painful procedures are not carried-out in the field. Provision is made for the children to attend a dental clinic for all extractions and more complicated treatment.
When visiting the schools, oral hygiene instruction and diet education is given to each class. The school visits are followed-up for maintenance, review and evaluation three more times in the remainder of that 12 month period. Visits to households are made by our dentist and dental therapists where it is obvious that there has not been a positive response to our treatment and advice. In this way SmileHigh projects are community orientated health programs.
