Outreach project in Kenya

The project began in September 2016, at PCEA Chogoria Hospital to support its dental unit’s effort to provide immediate care for those in pain and need.

The Tharaka Smile Outreach Project provides preventive dental education and services to neighboring schools and orphanages. The facility offers opportunities for mission-minded professionals and dental students from abroad to volunteer their time and talents as educators or service providers. The vision of the clinic is to provide comprehensive and preventive dental services in a pleasant environment while adhering to the highest sterilisation guidelines. This project aims to improve access to oral healthcare, to include immediate care, to relieve pain and infection and to provide preventive dental education to schools, remote villages and dental services. The Kenya Oral Health Initiative (KOHI) supports and facilitates volunteerism for both the PCEA Chogoria and Kikuyu Clinics. 

Need for such a project was made clear in the ‘Kenya National Oral Health Survey Report 2015’, which showed widespread poor oral hygiene practices in the population and that children and adults had unmet dental caries and gum related treatment needs. It recommended preventive healthcare programs at strategic entry points of healthcare delivery systems. According to the country’s Center of Disease Control, about 60 per cent of children are suffering one or more cavities by the age of five.