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Unspoken Smiles

We get dental care to people in impoverished countries across the world.

3.58 billion people around the world lack access to oral health care, simply because they either cannot afford it or have never had access to a dentist in their entire lives. We provide early oral health treatment and education for children, and dental assistance fellowships to young local women with otherwise inadequate earning opportunities, empowering them with a sustainable career in Dentistry

Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2014

Established

7K

Children

9

Countries
Updated
June 2018
While treatment has the power to control many public health crises, prevention has the power to end it.

About the innovation

Together, we can bring primary oral health care to ALL.

3.58 billion people around the world lack access to oral health care, simply because they either cannot afford it or have never had access to a dentist in their entire lives. For some, getting dental treatment means traveling for several hours or waiting for upwards of a year for free dental care provided by international organizations. Many others, meanwhile, die from oral diseases that are 100% preventable.

Jean Paul Laurent, founder of Unspoken Smiles Foundation, has created an innovative model to solve one of the most overlooked health issues in the world, starting with the most remote communities of Haiti and spreading to communities in India, Iraq, and elsewhere. The key: training and employing local women as community oral healthcare professionals. Young women between the ages of 17 and 35 will learn to educate, screen for common oral diseases, and perform basic procedures. With the Unspoken Smiles Fellowship, Jean Paul is creating a platform to train, empower and connect fellows with other dental professionals across the world. The fellowship will give these women access to the best mobile technological resources, create a global network for innovation exchange, and form public-private partnerships with corporations and governments to ensure community oral healthcare professionals are a cornerstone of the universal health coverage coalition. And with the help of the Fellowship, these women will also gain invaluable professional experience and contribute to their local economies in substantive ways.

If properly supported, Unspoken Smiles Foundation believes these fellows can transform access to quality oral care in disadvantaged regions and protect against the global oral disease epidemic.


Implementation steps

BECOME A COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE

Country Representatives: Partners and Friends from Around the World

The job of a Country Representative is to play a role in the expansion of Unspoken Smiles to all corners of the world. Each representative resides in their respective countries and are there to connect dental professionals with the underserved communities around them. With their help, we are creating a worldwide network of dentists and volunteers working to improve the dental health and prevention of oral diseases amongst children in low-income areas. We are always looking to partner with new countries and expand the Country Representatives group.


  • Assigned and in-place in each target country

  • Credentialed dental healthcare professionals

  • Native to and knowledgeable of respective countries

  • Role to build strong network of dental professionals and local resources; plan and drive program implementation; develop and support effective programs of oral health promotion and disease prevention for low-income, under-served communities

If interested, send us your letter of interest, credentials and resume at info@unspokensmilesfoundation.org
TAKE THE UNSPOKEN SMILES PLEDGE

Our commitment to serve

As more and more children are born into impoverished, underserved communities worldwide, we, the Dental Professional Volunteers at Unspoken Smiles are taking this pledge:

“As a dental professional I will commit a minimum of 200 hours during my career to the service of those who are underserved. I will devote this time because I believe that all people should have access to professional dental care and good oral health. My service will be done with joy and respect, and in ways most beneficial to those in need and their communities.”

Take the pledge

This pledge is more than a commitment to helping those in need; this is you issuing a challenge to other dental health professionals and organizations around the world to rethink their roles as health care providers. Careers in health can be prosperous, and there is nothing wrong with that, but our initial desire should always be to serve and improve the health and lives of those in need of our skills and services.

If you believe what we believe, take the pledge and join the millions of others who have done the same.

BECOME A CORPORATE SPONSOR

We Build Best-in-Class Alliances

At the UNSPOKEN SMILES, we are proud to partner with leading companies to build best-in-class alliances that enhance corporate and philanthropic objectives while helping save and improve the lives of children around the world.

UNSPOKEN SMILES partners with corporations across industries to make strategic investments in the issues and geographies that are important to our partners’ business operations.

As a partner, UNSPOKEN SMILES brings a truly global presence, extensive expertise, influence, and credibility in our lifesaving work for children, and a brand that consumers know and trust. When combined with the resources, knowledge, and commitment of our partners, the results can be tremendous.

As our programs continue to find success around the world we will partner with more and more countries. Together, our founder, our board, our partners, and you can continue to make changes in the lives of children in under-served communities everywhere.

Spread of the innovation

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