On Friday the 6th of March the Children of the Riverkids Community has their 6 monthly dental check-up. There were over 150 kids assessed from The Alexandra, Blum, Churten House and Family House. This event was coordinated by Kim Lay of the Cambodia Volunteer Services. In total 9 persons, 5 dentists and 4 volunteers were involved. All of these participants are part of the Kids International Dental Service USA and are giving their time free of charge. The team leader is Mr. Robert P Renner .During his time in Cambodia Mr Renner will look at over 2000 children in the Kompongcham and Phnom Penh areas. Asked why he did what he does he commented that “It’s better to give up some of your free time that just to give money and let someone else deal with the problem”
This initiative is very important for these children. The kids who receive the treatment are from very vulnerable families. A child’s teeth are not very high on the list of priorities for their families. Most families struggle to even have enough food to eat so dental treatment is out of the question. Nearly all of the children before they registered with Riverkids had never been to a dentist.
This initiative is very important for these children. The kids who receive the treatment are from very vulnerable families. A child’s teeth are not very high on the list of priorities for their families. Most families struggle to even have enough food to eat so dental treatment is out of the question. Nearly all of the children before they registered with Riverkids had never been to a dentist.
The process for this treatment is as followed:
A Social Worker issues each child from the 4 different projects with a consent form. The children take this home to their parents. This has to be signed by the parents of the child and
returned to the Riverkids Foundation. Without this form no dental work would be carried out on the kid.
On the day of treatment all children in alphabetical order are seated in-front of the kindergarten at the Riverkids Centre. The kindergarten area is where the check-ups take place. Firstly the child is seen by the head dentist Mr. Renner. He assesses them and has the final decision on what dental work is to be carried out if any. He marks the work on the consent form. After this the child moves to the next table where fluoride is applied to their teeth. For the lucky ones (the children with good teeth) this is the end of the process. For the others they move to a seated area where they await treatment. Finally each child that needs an extraction or work completed is seen by one of 4 different dentists.
A Social Worker issues each child from the 4 different projects with a consent form. The children take this home to their parents. This has to be signed by the parents of the child and
returned to the Riverkids Foundation. Without this form no dental work would be carried out on the kid.On the day of treatment all children in alphabetical order are seated in-front of the kindergarten at the Riverkids Centre. The kindergarten area is where the check-ups take place. Firstly the child is seen by the head dentist Mr. Renner. He assesses them and has the final decision on what dental work is to be carried out if any. He marks the work on the consent form. After this the child moves to the next table where fluoride is applied to their teeth. For the lucky ones (the children with good teeth) this is the end of the process. For the others they move to a seated area where they await treatment. Finally each child that needs an extraction or work completed is seen by one of 4 different dentists.
Kids International Dental Services USA has brought a lot of equipment with them to the foundation. Much of this has to do with the sterilization process. The treatment area is kept extremely clean and is regularly swept clean. Used equipment is carefully put into basins of hot water to prevent spread of infection. A new toothbrush is used for each child to apply the fluoride to decrease the risk of the spread of infection from one child to another. Before any work is carried out the child has an injection to numb the area to be worked on. This is administered by one of the dentists. Once the mouth is fully numbed the child is seen. Afterwards the child sits down for 15 to 20 minutes to allow them to recover from the procedure. Here again they are looked after by a volunteer to make sure everything is okay.
Riverkids would like to thank Kids International Dental Services USA and Cambodia Volunteer Services from the bottom of our hearts. Before this if one of the children had a problem with their teeth they were sent to an NGO clinic. Each time a child visited the clinic The Riverkids Foundation had to pay $10. This saved money now however can be put to another use to help in providing the children with a better future. The children can only benefit from this in the long-term.
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