Healthy Smiles is on a mission to work with communities to decrease prevalence of oral health diseases through education and preventive interventions.

“First Decade, No Decay”Oral health is a fundamental aspect to the general health and wellbeing of individual, especially young children. Oral diseases affect the quality of life of children and account for pain, impaired aesthetics, speech disorders, recurrent infections, eating troubles, sleeping difculties, poor ability to learn, and improper growth. According to a WHO report, children tend to miss 50 million school hours worldwide due to poor oral health. With appropriate measure, early onset of dental decay and gum diseases is reversible. Our vision is that with the right interventions we can prevent the onset of early dental decay, therefore the motto “First Decade, No Decay”.

Our Mission

Our Vision

Rationale for Healthy Smiles initiativeObjectives of Healthy Smiles

SO Education and Early detection

are the need of the hour!

Bi-annual routine dental check-ups and oral health screening

Complete check up includes diagnosis of tooth decay, periodontal (gum)

diseases and birth defects such astongue tie

Educational lectures and material forchildren, parents as well as teachers

Oral hygiene demonstration and activities to motivate children

Treatment / Curative aspects

For several decades now, the Indian Institute of Continuing Education & Research (IICER), under our

direction, through an ongoing coordinated and collaborative effort with schools has been able to increase

access to oral health care for children, parents and their families through new initiatives, and promising

practices for preventive interventions.

v Integrity/ Ethics – To conduct all activities and transaction ethically and with integrity

v Commitment to quality – To always provide the best quality of care

v Education – To educate communities on importance of oral health, while also continuously

learning ourselves

v Compassion – To foster a culture of compassion amongst our team and communities

v Community Partnerships – To understand that we will always work in partnership with

communities to promote and spread awareness on oral health.

Dental caries is one of the leading problems in school

going children as well as in adults. The World Health

Organization (WHO) has recognized dental caries as a

pandemic and reported its prevalence among school 1

children to range from 60-90%. Caries or dental decay

is an increasing burden in developing countries like

India. A National Oral Health Survey, 2004 reveals an

alarming prevalence of dental caries i.e more than 50% 2in 5-year-old children. During the survey, Decayed

Missing Filled Treated Teeth Index (dmft) showed a high presence of decayed teeth (dt), while that of the

treated teeth (ft) was virtually absent. The population in rural India experienced more caries. The report also

indicated a need for early treatment and prevention of dental caries in the population as the disease levels

increased with advancing age.Ample data is available on the status of dental caries in Indian population. A study carried out in Sunderban, West Bengal has found out the prevalence of dental caries to be as high as 72% in the rural adolescents in

3India. A study by Shingare et al. in Raigad district, Maharashtra reported the prevalence of dental caries 4among 3-14 years old children to be 80.92%. Mayekar S. et al. carried out a study on 5000 school children

in Mumbai, Maharashtra and found that 7 out of 10 children were affected by dental caries. Prevalence of 5

dental caries in 3-6 year old Anganwadi children in Mudhol town, Karnataka was found to be 62.1%. Singhal 6et al. reported similar caries prevalence of 64.2% in Aanganwadi children of Udipi, Karnataka. A study

7conducted in Bangalore city found a varied caries prevalence of 60-65%. A still higher prevalence of 71.1% 8

was reported on Aanganwadi children at Narmada, Gujarat by Dixit et al. A cross-sectional study conducted 9

in Bundelkhand also reported a higher prevalence of 82.6%.

Our Core Values

IICER Trust

Current Scenario: Dental caries in Indian children

Signicant ndings were noted in the dental assessment of Tribal children in Maharashtra conducted by Healthy Smiles in 2017. Only 1 out of 462 children had been to a dentist. 16% of children gave a history of recent dental pain. Caries prevalence was reported to be 77.2%. The oral hygiene status of 12% and 43% of children was categorized as “Not satisfactory” and “Fair” respectively. There was laxity in the attitude to perform adequate oral hygiene measures.Literature on the prevalence of dental caries in Indian children is highly suggestive of the need to intervene. As rightly pointed out by Jawdekar A, there has not been a national oral health program for the rural or urban

10India till date. To plan a holistic approach towards the improvement of their oral health in Indian children is imperative.

In developing countries like India, the burden of restorative dental treatment is huge. Many children, their parents and school teachers lack the adequate oral health knowledge and awareness. Treating dental caries is expensive due to direct costs of treatment and indirect cost such as time taken off by the parents to take the child to a dentist. Owing to the budgetary constraints, treatment of dental caries at the national level is impractical. In order to overcome this, the role of preventive dental care needs to be emphasized and an integrated preventive dental approach is warranted. With appropriate measure, early onset of dental decay and gum diseases is reversible. Prevention programs reduce the incidence and prevalence of oral and dental diseases. Also, preventive care is inexpensive compared to the treatment costs associated with these diseases. Providing education and early preventive interventions for children reduces the future demand for early restorative dental services and a reduce incidence of dental disease. Furthermore, healthy behaviours and lifestyles developed at young age are more sustainable.

Analysis of Data collected by Healthy Smiles

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Prevention of dental caries is important!

School: An efcient settingSchools, a well-established system provide the most effective platform for promoting oral health because they reach the maximum number of children. Lifelong beliefs, skills and attitudes can be inculcated in the young and malleable minds of school children. Oral health messages can be reinforced throughout the school years, which are the most inuential stages of children’s lives.

Through schools, we not only reach the children but also their parents, school staff and other school community members. Many parents do not know how to brush their child’s teeth correctly or how to teach their children to do so. Few parents have understanding of how to prevent caries and even fewer know the early signs of tooth decay. These ndings highlight the importance of providing school children and their parents with accurate and accessible information about how they can best prevent tooth decay for themselves and their children and improve their overall oral health. This ‘spread of effect’ through schools is well-documented in literature. A ‘directed population’ approach based on geographic targeting (rural areas in each district) and targeting on basis of schools in these rural areas is warranted.

Healthy Smiles Dental Camp (Fluoride gel application) For Tribal Children Of Maharashtra

BMC-Healthy Smiles Project, Inaugurated by Shri Aaditya Thackeray

Highlights Of The Project of ‘Swachh Mukh Abhiyan’ In Collaboration

With The Ministry of Rural Development, Women & Child Welfare

Healthy Smiles Pediatric Dental Set-up At Shardhashram Vidyamandir, Dadar.

Healthy Smiles Dental camp for ‘Special Children’

The children will use the oral health kits provided by Colgate to brush their teeth in school to demonstrate

what they have learnt. Our dentists will reinforce the positive experience around brushing to ensure that

children not only brush correctly but also enjoy the experience. This will increase adherence to brushing.

The overall program addresses the following:

Ü Awareness- Through dental education and simple

but important tips such as twice a day brushing,

healthy food habits, mouth rinsing etc.

Ü Screening- By involving dental fraternity, all the

children will be provided a thorough dental check-

up and report shared with their parents.

Ü Preventive/ Curative aspect- To ensure that all the

kids after the check-up gets proper dental guidance

and treatment.

The focus is to conduct checkups and understand the current oral health scenario of the children at target

schools. In phase two we will initiate tobacco cessation programs and counsel children who are already

consuming tobacco products. Eventually, we will extend this program to adults to educate them on oral

hygiene and oral cancer. Oral cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases in India, even though it can be

prevented if detected at an early stage. With the right message and awareness campaigns we believe we can

reduce incidence of oral cancer.

Furthermore, poor oral hygiene and tobacco use from an early age are the biggest contributing causes to oral

cancer. Use of smokeless tobacco products like “misheri” is on the rise in India because of the myth among

population that tobacco in the product is a germicidal chemical and helps in cleaning teeth. Other forms of

smokeless tobacco like “gutkha” are also very popular among teenagers and children. These products are

addictive and the number one cause of oral cancer. We believe that by educating children at an early age and

discouraging use of these tobacco products can help decrease prevalence of oral cancer in India.

Healthy Future

For the rst time ever in India, we are implementing a Brushing Drill at every school

Our CSR Partners

Contact Us

Saloni Mayekar saloni@healthysmilesindia.com | 9833446585Dr. Chetana Agrawal drchetana@healthysmilesindia.com | 9820625624

C. V. R. Group

1. Petersen PE, Bourgeois D, Ogawa H, Estupinan-Day S, Ndiaye C (2005). The global burden of oral

diseases and risks to oral health. Bull World Health Organization 83: 661-669.

2. National Oral Health Survey and Fluoride Mapping. An Epidemiological Study of Oral Health Problems

and Estimation of Fluoride Levels in Drinking Water. Dental Council of India, New Delhi, 2004.

3. Datta P, Datta PP (2013) Prevalence of Dental Caries among School Children in Sundarban, India.

Epidemiol 3: 135

4. Shingare P, Jogani V, Sevekar S, Patil S, Jha M (2012) Dental caries prevalence among 3-14 years old

school children, urban, Raigad district, Maharashtra. J Contemp Dent 2: 11-14.

5. Kashetty MV, Patil S, Kumbhar S, Patil P. Prevalence of dental caries among 3–6-year-old Anganwadi

children in Mudhol town, Karnataka, India. J Indian Assoc Public Health Dent 2016;14:403-8.

6. Singhal DK, Acharya S, Thakur AS. Dental caries experience among pre-school children of

Udupitaluk. J Oral Health Community Dent 2015;9:5-9.

7. Virjee K, Aradhya SM. Caries pattern in urban and non-urban children 4-5½-year-old. J Indian Dent

Assoc 1987;59:113-6.

8. Dixit A, Aruna DS, Sachdev V, Sharma A. Prevalence of dental caries and treatment needs among 3-5

year old preschool children in Narmada, Gujarat. IOSR J Dent Med Sci 2015;14:97-101.

9. Jain A, Jain V, Suri SM, Jain RK. Prevalence of dental caries in male children from 3 to 14 years of age

of Bundelkhand region, India. Int J Community Med Public Health 2016;3:787-90.

10. Jawdekar, A. M. A proposed model for infant and child oral health promotion in India. Int. J. Dent.

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REFERENCES