Oral health conditions in beneficiaries of the Sonríe project, in cooperation with the Consejo Cantonal de Salud de Cuenca

Abstract

The actions of the department of social outreach of the dentistry department of the Universidad Católica de Cuenca, in coordination with the Consejo Cantonal de Salud de Cuenca, made it possible to implement the Sonríe Cuenca project. The objective of the study was to report the results of a community intervention through this project. Dental care was carried out in 4 educational institutions and 6 public child development centers in the urban area of Cuenca during the period 2019 to 2023. A total of 214 students and 7 teachers participated during this period. The beneficiaries were 965 children, with a total of 3473 dental activities, distributed in oral health education carried out to all participants; prevention activities through the identification of biofilm, control of tooth brushing technique, dental diagnosis to 571 children, and finally with 1902 minimally invasive dental actions (prophylaxis, sealants, fluoridation, dental restorations). The execution of the brigade contributes to the improvement of the state of oral health, the emphasis was placed on the different dental activities carried out in the beneficiaries of the Sonríe Cuenca project, especially in education and prevention actions, despite a period of pandemic, the oral health education did not stop.