Boquitas Sanas (Healthy Little Mouths)

On The Road Blog

By Michael Gale on November 21st, 2011
Category: Blog, Featured, Home, Latin America and the Caribbean

Bogotá, Colombia – I spent today visiting GFC’s grantee partner Fundación Simsa in Bogotá, Colombia. I’ve done a number of site visits over the past three years, but last Sunday’s visit wins the prize for the most crying children. As it turns out, kids don’t enjoy a visit to the dentist in Colombia any more than they do in the US.

It wasn’t that every child who climbed (or was lifted) into the collapsible dentist chairs Simsa uses in its mobile dental clinics began to cry, but when you see 121 kids in just over six hours, you’re bound to come across at least a few who let you know, loudly, that they would rather be just about anywhere else.

Sunday’s clinic was set up in a classroom of a community center in a poor neighborhood south of downtown Bogotá, and Simsa’s team that day consisted of six dental professionals. One dentist performed intake, taking note of key information, including the children’s history of previous visits with Simsa. A quick exam was done to classify the young patient as sanita or otherwise. The sanita, or healthy kids, were given a fluoride treatment and a reminder to continue brushing their teeth three times a day. Those who were identified during intake as needing some additional treatment waited their turn to be seen.

Two boys, no older than 4 or 5, were waiting in the clinic when an impressively vocal patient began to express his displeasure at having a tooth removed. I saw the looks of dread on the boys’ faces. They were next in line to be seen. I was expecting the worst, perhaps a mad dash for the door, when another boy of around 10—an older brother—came over and sat with his terrified siblings. He took them each by the hand and said, “You’re not going to cry like that, are you? Can you be brave? I’ll be right here.” I watched as the boys’ names were called. Their older brother led them, each in turn, over to the dentist chairs and lifted them up. The older brother took turns walking back and forth between the chairs, holding his younger brothers’ hands, giving them high fives, and patting their shoulders. I also watched as each brother had antiseptic shots and cavities drilled and filled, all without shedding a tear.

Founded in 2004 and a GFC grantee partner since 2006, Fundación Simsa was created by local dentist Lida Alarcón and several colleagues in response to the severely inadequate access to dental care experienced by significant portions of the Colombian population. While Simsa’s activities focus on providing dental health services, the organization’s broader mission is to promote and defend the right to oral health among the poorest segments of Colombian society, particularly children and youth.

Fundación Simsa does amazing work in difficult circumstances with limited resources, and I was in awe of their professionalism and kindness. Yes, some children cried, but as long as Simsa can continue its mobile clinics, these same children will be able to grow up without the health problems and social stigmas associated with missing teeth or infected gums. Every child, everywhere, deserves to be sanita.