exocad, an Align Technology, Inc company recently donated €10,000 to the Germany-based nonprofit Mini Molars Cambodia eV. A portion of the donation included proceeds collected during a charitable T-shirt sales campaign held at the International Dental Show (IDS) 2023 and donations from exocad employees worldwide.
Mini Molars Cambodia was established in 2015, to give Cambodian people the opportunity to develop a sustainable oral health programme, targeting the most impoverished children in and around Phnom Penh. The humanitarian programme delivers basic, but essential dental services to a wide range of children from all backgrounds. These include orphans, vulnerable children, street/garbage dump children.
Mini Molars representatives said the donation will be used to support the organisation’s work providing dental care to children in Cambodia without regular access to dental care. “This contribution from exocad will help us extend our vital outreach to children in need who live in Phnom Penh and surrounding communities,” said Mini Molars founder and dentist Dr Ulf Zuschlag.
According to Mini Molars Cambodia, many children in Cambodia are unable to access the most basic of oral health instruction and care. By the time a child reaches five years old in Cambodia, they can have around 5-10 teeth which show advanced decay. Many have experienced extreme pain at some point, along with infection.
exocad actively supports global efforts to improve dental healthcare, especially among children. “We believe deeply in helping first-line caregivers get young people the care they need,” said Novica Savic, CCO and general manager at exocad.
Mini Molars provides dental care at a pagoda in Phnom Penh that hosts other aid projects and serves children from schools. Mini Molars workers also travel with mobile treatment units to communities throughout Cambodia.
Its mission is to improve vulnerable children’s oral/dental health in impoverished areas of Cambodia. Mini Molars also works closely with the Buddhist Association and Development Non-Government Organisation to collaborate with education programmes and organisations to provide essential oral health education and care amongst vulnerable children. These organisations help in assisting Mini Molars to provide essential oral health information for the local community.
Mini Molars Cambodia aims to launch a clinic alongside the ‘Buddhist Association Development Centre’. This is an area which suffers from extreme poverty and unfortunately has a lot of waste garbage disposal dumped in the area.
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