Dentsply Sirona supported tooth preservation and oral health projects in Amazonia

In July 2018, Dentsply Sirona partnered with two exciting projects in Brazil. A team from Doctors without Borders travelled to the indigenous people of Amazonia to deliver dental treatment directly on site. A group led by Prof. Manoel Eduardo de Lima Machado from Sao Paulo University also accompanied them to provide endodontic treatment to the patients. Dentsply Sirona Endodontics, Restorative, Implants and CAD/CAM products were used on site.

Giving a smile back every day to people who would otherwise not have the opportunity to receive dental treatment: such is the mission of Brazilian non-profitable organization Organisation DSF, Doutores Sem Fronteiras (Doctors without Borders). This year, initiator Dr. Caio Machado, a dentist from Sao Paulo, led a team of about 120 volunteers from Brazil, among them doctors, general and specialist dentists, and dental students to areas of the country where indigenous people of Amazonia live. During the 35-day expedition, around 30 different indigenous peoples and several communities in the state of Rondônia were visited and received dental treatment. Dentsply Sirona supported the project by providing high-tech equipment like CEREC and materials and devices like Celtra Duo blocks and endo files.
In the middle of the rainforest: producing full-zirconia crowns at 1,200 degrees

"It was a remarkable experience," said Fabiana Schleder Ruiz, Marketing Manager CEREC Europe, Canada and Latin America at Dentsply Sirona and a volunteer on the trip. "We produced full-zirconia restorations in Amazonia for the first time ever. The CEREC SpeedFire was supplied with energy from a generator on a boat and reached 1,200 degrees in the middle of the rainforest. The crowns produced were directly inserted in patients’ mouth and were a perfect fit." The complete DSF-team led by Caio Machado was impressed that CEREC was able to easily withstand the difficult climactic conditions. Caio Machado comments, "CEREC proved to be very robust but was also exceedingly easy to use, which was very helpful to us on site. In total, the modern technology from Dentsply Sirona allowed us to conduct more than 3.678 dental treatments and treat over 1.096 patients very quickly and, most importantly, very safely."

For the indigenous people of Amazonia, these treatments were something very special. Many cannot afford dental care and don't generally have access to a dentist either. Over the course of the expedition, the DSF volunteers not only provided them with CEREC restorations but also with implantology and endodontic treatment. Children were given small dental care sets comprising toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Caio Machado was very grateful that thereby he could cover various endodontic, implant and restorative treatments. The organization Doutores Sem Fronteiras has been engaged in similar expeditions since 2014 and will be looking after the dental health of hard-to-access areas of Brazil again next year – supported by Dentsply Sirona.
Support for an endodontic research project

Another member of the volunteer team was Prof. Manoel Eduardo de Lima Machado from Sao Paolo University, and father of Caio Machado. His role on his son's team during the trip was to deal with endodontic treatments, supported by Dentsply Sirona with appropriate equipment such as motors, files and root canal filling materials.

For Prof. Machado, this work was part of "Project 32", a name which represents the importance of all 32 teeth and which is funded by Dentsply Sirona Endodontics. The aim is to improve the social integration and comprehensive oral health care of the Brazilian population through an efficient technique with a standardized endodontic protocol and a quick learning curve. The treatment can be carried out in a single session with a positive benefit to cost ratio which means it can be used in public health care services allowing endodontic care to be more accessible.

"As a market and technology leader in the dental market, we believe we have great social responsibility," says Pamela Marklew, Vice President Clinical Affairs at Dentsply Sirona Endodontics. “As a company that is active on a global scale, we support important projects both through our products and by providing personal assistance on site. Feedback from the patients confirms the impact good dental care has on their quality of life and motivates us to continue working on solutions to make quality dentistry better, safer and also faster."

For more information on Doutores Sem Fronteiras (Doctors without Borders): www.dsf.org.br