Chaired by James E. Spencer (NY)

This is a Project of the USA Section.

The rationale for this program is to provide a means for the fellows of the U.S.A. Section of lCD to personally participate in an humanitarian project that will enable the U.S.A. Section to be identified as an international leader in dental health education.

There are millions of people in the world in emerging! developing countries who do not have access to dental care. Pain, infection and dysfunction are an unfortunate way of life due to the unintended consequences of not having access to adequate dental care and preventive measures.

The scope of this program is to establish specialty Dental/Public Health training programs to introduce public health dentistry measures as a means of mitigating the severity of the dental problems in emerging/developing countries. Vietnam and Cambodia are among those types of countries. This area is currently the focus of our Dental Humanitarian Outreach Program.

The Faculty of Odontostomatogy at Ho Chi Minh City, the faculty at the University of Texas, Health Volunteers Oversees and individual volunteer instructors formed a coalition with the U.S.A. Section of lCD to implement a specialty training program in dental public health in Vietnam. More...>

The U.S.A. Section provided $25000 of logistical support in 2001-2002 for this project. During 2002 there were 14 dentists that completed the Dental Public Health Specialty program at FOS.

Results:

• Introduction and/or improvement of water fluoridation.
• Introduction and promotion of fluoride toothpaste.
• Introduction and development of dental health education in primary schools.
• Development of an Internet access for the dental community at FOS to the library at the University of Texas.
• Establishment of a focus group for critical thinking.

All activities of this project are funded by individual donations by a separate pledge to the U.S.A. Section/lCD. As future circumstances develop, the committee will continue to identify dental health humanitarian needs that may be funded by the U.S.A. Section.

We welcome continued support and gratefully acknowledge our previous benefactors. 

Be sure and visit the lCD web page, http://www.usa-icd.org, regularly to see what USA-lCD is doing.