Dentsply Sirona Donation Opens a “World of Possibilities” in Colombia

Orthodontics might appear to be one of the few branches of healthcare that could never go remote. Adjusting braces via camera lens just seems impossible.

But Smile Train partner Dentsply Sirona didn’t become the world’s largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies by letting “impossible” stand in their way — or in the way of patients getting the treatment they need.

At a workshop at Smile Train partner Clinica Noel in Medellin, Colombia, earlier this year, Dentsply Sirona worked with local oral health specialists Drs. Juan Pablo Gomez and Martha Mejía and Smile Train staff members to demonstrate one of their latest donations to the hospital: a remote monitoring structure for making personalized cleft orthopedic orthodontic treatments available to more people than ever before.

Here’s how it works: When a patient visits Clinica Noel, the dentists scan their mouth with a specialized intraoral scanner. The 3D model is analyzed with special software that simulates the treatments the patient will need over the following months. That information is used to create a series of customized, 3D printed devices — each perfectly crafted to move the right bones or teeth at the right time — that are then given to the patient to take home. Patients schedule a virtual appointment every time they change their device, so that an oral health professional can monitor their progress remotely and ask them to come in if necessary.

This system greatly reduces the need for patients to travel, allowing children who live far away or whose parents can’t afford to miss work to still receive the local, personalized, consistent, free cleft care that is the signature of Smile Train’s model.

That model, in turn, is made possible by workshops like this one, that train local healthcare professionals on the latest technologies so they can provide world-class cleft care to every child in their region who needs it.

“I believe that this partnership between Smile Train and Dentsply Sirona has opened up a world of possibilities, ensuring that we are confidently advancing towards a future where all children with cleft lips and palates can have access to high-quality care and live to their fullest potential,” said Monica Dominguez, Smile Train’s Director of Global Oral Health Programs.