Dental Health Outreach Program for Indigent Children
To support SDG 1: No Poverty, particularly Target 1.4 on ensuring access to basic services for the poor and vulnerable, Lyceum-Northwestern University through its College of Dentistry implemented a comprehensive dental health outreach program for indigent Grade 1 pupils. The program was developed in response to findings that 100% of the pupils had dental caries, a clear indicator that children were unable to access preventive dental care due to the high cost of services.
The initiative delivers a set of free, essential health services designed to reduce the financial burden on families while improving children’s overall well-being. Key components of the program include:
- Prevention of dental caries through school-based oral health interventions
- Application of dental sealants to protect pits and fissures—the most common sites of decay
- Distribution of free dental hygiene kits to promote daily oral care at home
- Lecture-demonstrations on proper tooth-brushing techniques, ensuring that children develop lifelong oral hygiene habits
By providing these services at no cost, the program ensures that indigent children receive the preventive care they would otherwise forgo due to financial barriers. This directly aligns with SDG 1 by expanding access to basic health services for disadvantaged populations, while also advancing SDG 3 by improving oral health outcomes and reducing the prevalence of untreated dental disease.
