ONG Sos Dental

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Dentistas na Favela

Emergency dental care for residents of the favelas

In Rio de Janeiro, nearly 22% of the population lives in favelas, areas of the city which often have poor access to health and dental care. A large number of favela residents have poor oral health by the time they reach adolescence. It is estimated that 98% of the population has some kind oral health issue, while only 15% receive adequate care.

SOS Dental was created in May of 2008 to meet the demand for dental care in the favela communities of Rio de Janeiro. Using a mobile office and volunteer dentists, the organization offers free emergency dental care house calls for residents of the Complexo do Alemão, a highly vulnerable community in the city of Rio. The cards to obtain a visit from the dentist are offered free of charge at local shops to their customers as part of a customer loyalty program.

IMPACT

With support from BrazilFoundation, in 2014, the Dentista na Favela project provided dental treatments to 8,850 people.

“With support from BrazilFoundation we could expand our work and give resources to communities that have the same needs as Complexo do Alemão, but that have not yet implemented our project”. Vinicius Lessa, Project Coordinator