What We Do
Smileawi’s overall aim is to help improve oral health and oral health services in Malawi.
We do this by
Promoting oral health through education and prevention.
Funding the training of Malawians to become dental therapists.
Providing support for local dental therapists through education, encouraging networking and donations of materials and equipment.
Fundraising to buy materials and equipment to support the existing dental facilities and dental therapists.
Collecting donations of good quality equipment and instruments to send to our Malawian colleagues.
Repairing and maintaining hospital vehicles and equipment with the help of Smileawi Spanners.
RECENT PROJECTS
Oral Health Survey 2019
In June 2019 along with dental students from the University of Glasgow and the University of Dundee we travelled to Malawi to carry out an Oral Health Survey designed by the dental public health department of the Glasgow Dental School to record the prevalence of dental disease in 5- to 12-year-old children. This turned out to be the largest study of its kind in Sub Saharan Africa to date with over 2000 children surveyed. At the same time, we also collected data for a PhD student at the University of Strathclyde recording for him measurements of the levels of fluoride in the water in the wells of the 6 primary schools we visited and looking for signs of fluorosis in the school children we examined. The findings were published and even made the front cover of a Water journal, you can read it here
Smileawi Mobile Dental Van
We were delighted to be offered a fully functioning dental van by Highland Health Board and a trip to the beautiful island of Mull along with Alan Stewart of Smileawi Spanners to inspect the truck resulted in Smileawi receiving ownership of this great facility. It created a lot of excitement not least from our local Rotary organisation who have tirelessly fundraised to help us with the cost of upgrading and preparing it for Malawian roads. The Covid-19 pandemic inevitably slowed the process down but with the generous sponsorship of many supporters the countdown is now on for its passage to Malawi. Once there the mobile unit will be used by the College of Health Sciences in Lilongwe as a training facility and a way of providing dental care in remote areas.
Collaborative Projects
Working with Professor Jeremy Bagg the Dean of the University of Glasgow’s Dental School has been very valuable to Smileawi. Professor Bagg is an extraordinary networker, and it is due to this gift of his that Smileawi has developed such productive partnerships with other organisations including Bridge2Aid, Dentaid and his own Maldent project. In June 2020 we planned to carry out a pilot study in Malawi of the successful model Bridge2Aid have used in Tanzania for 15 years that upskills medical officers in rural areas to carry out emergency treatment. We had been awarded a Scottish Government small grant to undertake the pilot but unfortunately due to the pandemic the study had to be postponed and in October after reconfiguring the grant we were given permission by the Scottish government to use the grant for a different programme which was develpoed with the Dental Association of Malawi, Bridge2Aid, ProdentalCPD, our Malawi Coordinator Dr Martha Chipanda and Smile North all working hand in hand to write an e-learning training programme aimed at dental therapists to improve their knowledge and skills and enhance their ability to train others in the delivery of an effective oral health message. This is an amazing opportunity to spread dental health messages throughout the rural populations and in the long term decrease the level of dental disease in these areas. The project created great excitement among our dental therapists in Northern Malawi and the course was delivered to 25 northern dental therapists in 2021. Since then they have trained more than 40 Oral Health promotors who have been successful in carrying the vital oral health messages to thousands of schoolchildren and local communities raising the importance of good oral health.
Working with the Maldent Project promoting Oral health for all.
In October 2023 after the publication of Malawi’s first oral Health policy in April 2022 Smileawi were honoured to be asked to help facilitate a national oral health survey to be carried out in 6- and 12-year old children. The survey was designed following the WHO pathfinder method by the team of public dental health experts from Glasgow University and then with an on the ground team of 3 UK dentists and 9 Malawian dental therapists the survey was carried out over a 2 week period visiting 24 schools in rural and urban areas. The results were delivered at a workshop in Mponella in Malawi on the 15th and 16th May 2024 and were used to help discussions around the implementation of a national oral health improvement plan for schoolchildren in Malawi. This is a great step forward and we are excited to see what happens next.
Dzaleka Refugee Camp.
Malawi accepts refugees from many war torn African countries and in Dzaleka just north of Lilongwe there is a protracted refugee camp housing around 65.000 people, many whom have spent their whole lives there. We met Dr Jean Bolobolo, a French speaking dentist from DRC who was one of the dental professionals who took part in the Oral Health Promotors course during Covid. He is not a refugee but on discovering so many of his countrymen within the camp he approached Smileawi for help in carrying out some much needed treatment. We provided him with a Dentaid mobile clinic in a wheelie bin and he has been carrying out regular treatments since. He has also trained 20 Oral health promotors to spread vital oral health messages around the camp and has recently joined forces with Dr James Khang a Korean dentist and Dr Patrick Madia also from DRC to provide emergency treatments in the camp whenever their time and resources allow. Smileawi hope to support these dental professionals as much as they can.
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We do this by
Promoting oral health through education and prevention.
Funding the training of Malawians to become dental therapists.
Providing support for local dental therapists through education, encouraging networking and donations of materials and equipment.
Fundraising to buy materials and equipment to support the existing dental facilities and dental therapists.
Collecting donations of good quality equipment and instruments to send to our Malawian colleagues.
Repairing and maintaining hospital vehicles and equipment with the help of Smileawi Spanners.
RECENT PROJECTS
Oral Health Survey 2019
In June 2019 along with dental students from the University of Glasgow and the University of Dundee we travelled to Malawi to carry out an Oral Health Survey designed by the dental public health department of the Glasgow Dental School to record the prevalence of dental disease in 5- to 12-year-old children. This turned out to be the largest study of its kind in Sub Saharan Africa to date with over 2000 children surveyed. At the same time, we also collected data for a PhD student at the University of Strathclyde recording for him measurements of the levels of fluoride in the water in the wells of the 6 primary schools we visited and looking for signs of fluorosis in the school children we examined. The findings were published and even made the front cover of a Water journal, you can read it here
Smileawi Mobile Dental Van
We were delighted to be offered a fully functioning dental van by Highland Health Board and a trip to the beautiful island of Mull along with Alan Stewart of Smileawi Spanners to inspect the truck resulted in Smileawi receiving ownership of this great facility. It created a lot of excitement not least from our local Rotary organisation who have tirelessly fundraised to help us with the cost of upgrading and preparing it for Malawian roads. The Covid-19 pandemic inevitably slowed the process down but with the generous sponsorship of many supporters the countdown is now on for its passage to Malawi. Once there the mobile unit will be used by the College of Health Sciences in Lilongwe as a training facility and a way of providing dental care in remote areas.
Collaborative Projects
Working with Professor Jeremy Bagg the Dean of the University of Glasgow’s Dental School has been very valuable to Smileawi. Professor Bagg is an extraordinary networker, and it is due to this gift of his that Smileawi has developed such productive partnerships with other organisations including Bridge2Aid, Dentaid and his own Maldent project. In June 2020 we planned to carry out a pilot study in Malawi of the successful model Bridge2Aid have used in Tanzania for 15 years that upskills medical officers in rural areas to carry out emergency treatment. We had been awarded a Scottish Government small grant to undertake the pilot but unfortunately due to the pandemic the study had to be postponed and in October after reconfiguring the grant we were given permission by the Scottish government to use the grant for a different programme which was develpoed with the Dental Association of Malawi, Bridge2Aid, ProdentalCPD, our Malawi Coordinator Dr Martha Chipanda and Smile North all working hand in hand to write an e-learning training programme aimed at dental therapists to improve their knowledge and skills and enhance their ability to train others in the delivery of an effective oral health message. This is an amazing opportunity to spread dental health messages throughout the rural populations and in the long term decrease the level of dental disease in these areas. The project created great excitement among our dental therapists in Northern Malawi and the course was delivered to 25 northern dental therapists in 2021. Since then they have trained more than 40 Oral Health promotors who have been successful in carrying the vital oral health messages to thousands of schoolchildren and local communities raising the importance of good oral health.
Working with the Maldent Project promoting Oral health for all.
In October 2023 after the publication of Malawi’s first oral Health policy in April 2022 Smileawi were honoured to be asked to help facilitate a national oral health survey to be carried out in 6- and 12-year old children. The survey was designed following the WHO pathfinder method by the team of public dental health experts from Glasgow University and then with an on the ground team of 3 UK dentists and 9 Malawian dental therapists the survey was carried out over a 2 week period visiting 24 schools in rural and urban areas. The results were delivered at a workshop in Mponella in Malawi on the 15th and 16th May 2024 and were used to help discussions around the implementation of a national oral health improvement plan for schoolchildren in Malawi. This is a great step forward and we are excited to see what happens next.
Dzaleka Refugee Camp.
Malawi accepts refugees from many war torn African countries and in Dzaleka just north of Lilongwe there is a protracted refugee camp housing around 65.000 people, many whom have spent their whole lives there. We met Dr Jean Bolobolo, a French speaking dentist from DRC who was one of the dental professionals who took part in the Oral Health Promotors course during Covid. He is not a refugee but on discovering so many of his countrymen within the camp he approached Smileawi for help in carrying out some much needed treatment. We provided him with a Dentaid mobile clinic in a wheelie bin and he has been carrying out regular treatments since. He has also trained 20 Oral health promotors to spread vital oral health messages around the camp and has recently joined forces with Dr James Khang a Korean dentist and Dr Patrick Madia also from DRC to provide emergency treatments in the camp whenever their time and resources allow. Smileawi hope to support these dental professionals as much as they can.
