A Journey to Better Smiles

An Outreach Activity for Parents and Children with Cleft Lip and Palate Conditions

By Dr. Dennis C. Lim (APO President)

 
 Every year the Association of Philippine Orthodontists (APO) organizes an outreach activity to provide dental care for the less privileged sector in the Philippines. For this year, 2023, the Association with its partner, Smile Train Philippines Inc. decided to hold its activity at the Philippine Band of Mercy, East Avenue, Quezon City. In spite of the bad weather the past few days, the volunteers from APO and Smile Train proceeded in providing dental education like importance of oral health and instructions for proper methods of teeth brushing to parents of children with cleft lips and palate conditions, since the children are still very young and would need a lot of supervision from the parents. Videos and actual demonstration on how to maintain good oral hygiene were shown to all the participants.

Afterwards, the volunteers from the Association of Philippine Orthodontists headed by the president, Dr. Dennis Lim proceeded with the application of fluoride varnish to help protect and strengthen their teeth and prevent the occurrence of dental caries. A total of 20 children were given the fluoride application and post instructions were explained to the parents and their children. The worthy event ended with the children receiving dental kits and meals. The parents were appreciative of the said event and would want to attend future activities from the Association of Philippine Orthodontists and Smile Train Philippines.