A dentist, a smile

What is it?

A dentist, a smile is a project led by a group of dentists, which aims to sensitize all professionals to carry out actions of solidarity, providing free care to children and adolescents of limited financial means, providing restorative and preventive treatment. We intend to introduce treatment of all specialties.

The dentist undertakes to treat at least one child, taking care of their oral health up to 20 years.

The treatment must be carried out in the professional’s office, with quality materials and all necessary restorative, educational and preventive dental procedures.

The professional must be responsible for the oral health of the patient and must provide those treatments deemed necessary. If any of these treatments were outside the field of action of the professional, the same or the organization will locate another professional who will carry it out.

This way, multidisciplinary teams are constituted for the intervention and realization of all the treatments that the child requires.

The selection of patients will be made through Dental coop, who will identify, among the candidates presented by Caritas or the Odontocus program, the children with the worst dental conditions, the neediest economically or those adolescents seeking their first job. An important criterion of selection will be the importance perceived by the patient of the need for treatment.

The project will be managed by a central body, which will put in contact those involved: the child, his family, the social worker, and the dentist.

How is the treatment done?

Once the Conditions of Commitment of a professional have been received, it will be registered and a child or adolescent will be identified who will be assigned to him.

The organization will contact the dentist to request a visit time, identifying itself as coming from the project a dentist, a smile.

The child or adolescent, accompanied by the person in charge, will appear at the dentist’s office at the indicated day and time. It is essential the presence of this responsible in the first visit for the patient to be attended.

The dentist must perform the clinical diagnosis, as well as the x-rays of the teeth that should be treated.

Photographs of “before and after” of the treatment will also be made, which will be incorporated into a file that will serve to verify that the objective of the project has been achieved. The professional must explain the treatment to the person in charge.

In case orthodontic treatment or other specialty is necessary, the specialist will be responsible for filing the pertinent documentation, as well as the follow-up and maintenance of the patient.

End of treatment

At the end of the treatment, the dentist must send a report to the headquarters of a dentist, a smile, which will specify the procedures performed.

The patient must go periodically to the dentist’s office, so that the dentist can follow and maintain the treatment. These visits will be made every six months, until the patient reaches 20 years. Eventually this maintenance can be prolonged indefinitely at the discretion of the dentist

Cost of treatment

The treatment cannot be completely free for the patient, since it would detract from their eyes.

Patients must pay 6 euros per visit.

The costs of the prosthesis will in principle be borne by the patient, although the professional can negotiate discounts or take charge of part of them. The organization can help in determining the real economic possibilities of the patient and his family

Fouls

If the patient does not show up for a scheduled appointment with their dentist and cannot be reached to arrange a new consultation, the dentist will contact the dentist’s headquarters, a smile.

All absences must be justified by the responsible party. This should be aware that, if the patient cannot go to a consultation, you must notify at least 48 hours in advance and request a new appointment. This will be a fundamental criterion of admission/expulsion of the program

Abandonment of the project by the patient

Patients with an unjustified absence will be removed from the project. The professional will inform the central silk of a dentist, a smile, who will be responsible for assigning a new patient.

Abandonment of the project by the professional

If a dentist wants to leave the project, he/she must communicate it in writing to the headquarters of A Dentist, a smile, specifying the cause of the abandonment. If you have patients who have not completed the treatment, you must collaborate with the organization to identify another dentist who is committed to serving them until they turn 18.

Expected results

At the end of the project a dentist, a smile is expected:

  • That all the dental ontological processes that guarantee the oral health of the adolescent have been carried out.
  • Evaluate the risk of caries of the child and reduce it.
  • Ensure a level of zero caries in the future.
  • That materials and resources have been used to ensure an optimum quality of work.
  • That the patient is educated in oral health, in order to continue the dental prevention achieved.

Recognition

Volunteers who are committed to the project a dentist, a smile they will obtain a plaque that will testify that they participate in a mobilization aimed at improving the oral health conditions of children and adolescents who do not have the necessary means to follow a dental treatment. We intend to communicate a good image of the participants and our entire group to society.