Dental Care for All: Support to the Homeless and Vulnerable Children

Since the 1st of January 2019, the Hellenic Initiative – Canada supports the operation of the Dental Clinic of MdM in Athens through the implementation of the program “Dental Care for All: Support to the Homeless and Vulnerable Children”.  The services are provided by two dentists (part-time) and an assistant nurse (full time) on a daily basis. Costs for medicines, medical consumables and specialized care (dental repairs) for the project’s beneficiaries are also covered with the THI Canada support.

The objective of this program is to ensure free access to dental care for the most vulnerable individuals and those living below the poverty line.  Especially for the homeless population, interconnection was achieved through the MdM Night Shelter as well as through street outreach.

Homeless people belong to a category of the population with chronic and serious dental problems. At the same time they consist of a part of the population very difficult to approach and to work with. Finally, a focus on their training concerning oral hygiene is often required.

These are the reasons why MDM is focusing on homeless people and on children living below the poverty line in the poor neighborhoods of Athens.

During the implementation of the “Dental Care for All” activities, MDM-Greece achieved to provide dental care services to 511 beneficiaries, 69% of them were homeless adults and 31% vulnerable children and adolescents including separated and unaccompanied minors , 60% were men and 40 % women. In total 1111 dental care sessions were realized including oral interventions (672), prevention awareness group activities regarding oral hygiene (321) and provision of medication (118).