TeethCloud and Rotary Club of Manila Unite to Bring Oral Health Care to Students in Silang, Cavite

THE Philippines' tropical storms on August 8 could not deter the commitment of the students and educators of the Sisters of Mary Banneux, Inc. in Silang, Cavite, as a team from TeethCloud.org provided an oral health outreach.

Led by John M. Cutter, DDS, Rotary Club of Manila’s Past Director and Past Chair of the Medical Prevention and Treatment Committee, who is a Co-Founder of TeethCloud and is its President for Human Resources and Development, the team was composed of 3 dentists; 1 dental assistant; 1 dental student; and, 9 Rotaract volunteers, including President Angel Macasieb and Past President Summer Bonifacio of Rotaract Club of Manila, as well as PP Barbara Pauli of Rotaract Club of Weimar, Germany.

The Sisters of Mary Banneux campus has entered into a 3-year MOU to serve as the first of TeethCloud’s global Virtual Research Hubs and will bring oral health benefits to over 5,000 students there.

As of the August 8th program, a survey of 3,100+ has already taken place; training for 90 faculty members has been completed; and an awareness/oral hygiene education/materials distribution program has reached 2,800 students.

“We’re extremely happy that our first Research Hub is beginning in the Philippines where TeethCloud got its start! The faculty and students of the Sisters of Mary have been immensely supportive of our initial efforts, and their cooperation has influenced similar programs in Cebu, Canada, El Salvador, and Brazil to express an interest in duplicating this model,” said Dr. Cutter.

With three years (and hopefully more), this outreach offers the service ethic of Rotarians worldwide to support and care for this population and others.

TeethCloud is a not-for-profit collaborative represented in 42 nations by 82 Thought Leaders, with an online following of 205,000+ individuals, whose goal is to decrease global oral health inequalities through Dental Informatics, including dental data science, artificial intelligence, teledentistry, and public oral health.