‘1,000 Smiles’ dental fair for Hanover next week
NEGRIL, Westmoreland — More than 2,000 people from communities across Hanover are expected to benefit from the ‘1,000 Smiles’ dental fair in the parish this week.
The fair, which is to run for two weeks, is the brainchild of American dentist, Joseph Wright, and has been made possible through the collaborative efforts of Sandals Negril, the International Smile Power Foundation, Colgate Palmolive, and Great Shape, a non-profit organisation that works to improve the lives of children.
“It’s going to be massive… It is going to reach the guy on the corner who has a bad tooth, the young lady at school who needs braces… It is going to reach the young man who has bad breath and doesn’t know why…” Burchell Henry, the public relations manager at Sandals Negril, told the Observer. “The conductor that needs a smile on the minibus who couldn’t afford it (dental care) will benefit and the old lady will probably get those dentures and all she’ll have to do is pinch $300,” he said.
The fair will feature 30 dental care professionals from across the United States offering their services in:
* the application of braces;
* cleaning and extractions; and
* root-canals and fillings.
In addition, a series of seminars will be run to educate people about oral hygiene, and Colgate Palmolive has donated a number of oral kits with toothbrushes, toothpaste, books, videos and teachers’ guides for distribution in schools across the parish.
Henry said that people need only pay $300 per adult and $100 per child to register.
Between November 10 and 20, the dentists will be at the Sandy Bay Health Centre, the Askenish Primary School and the Cave Valley Medical Centre; and between November 17 and 20, the clinics move to the Lucea Health Centre. They will operate between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm.
Hanover was selected for the dental fair on the advice of the Ministry of Health and the findings of a case study, conducted by Wright, that found that the parish was most in need.
“Based on the case study they did, I was mildly surprised that dental care in the parish was a challenge to the health authorities…” Henry said.
“… with dental care, we are not talking just about cleaning the teeth. There is a lot in dental care that a lot of people don’t know or cannot afford…”
The fair, he said, will seek to remedy some of those problems.
