Calgary dental hygienist travels to Kenya to help poor children
A dental hygienist from Calgary has travelled to Kenya to help children living in poverty.
CoraMarie Clark, the founder of The Tooth Fairy Children’s Foundation, journeyed to Nairobi to work alongside the Maasai Development Project. She arrived with 3,000 toothbrushes and worked alongside a volunteer dentist. The pair wanted to help children learn about oral health, as well as helping them with treatments.
Ms Clark and her colleague set up clinics in remote villages to the south of Nairobi to offer children dental treatment and routine examinations. Clark said that standards of oral health among the children were very poor and most had a large number of decayed teeth and problems with their gums.
CoraMarie Clark wanted to talk to children about looking after their teeth and gums, as well as providing them with the tools to help them clean their teeth; however, she realised that she was only to help a very small proportion of the people who needed her help. Unfortunately, dental decay is rife in Kenya and without the resources and infrastructure in place to provide dental services and promote oral hygiene, the cycle will continue and children will suffer from dental health problems.
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