Dentsply Sirona has announced a three-way partnership with FDI World Dental Federation (FDI) and Smile Train, a cleft-focused organisation, to develop global standard protocols for digital cleft treatment.
The protocols aim to increase access to digital treatments for patients with clefts and advance cleft care for the 1 in 700 babies born around the globe with cleft lip and or palate.
According to the press release by Dentsply Sirona, the three partners will jointly work on integrating digital workflows and sustainable solutions into these new protocols as well as creating and providing the necessary clinical education infrastructure to oral health professionals around the world.
The partnership also includes designing and setting up online courses and webinars to introduce dental professionals around the world to digital cleft care.
Prior to this new partnership, Dentsply Sirona pledged a US$5 million donation to Smile Train as part of a five-year commitment to help children around the world gain access to cleft treatment.
“At Dentsply Sirona, we live our sustainability strategy every day in numerous ways. One of the most rewarding aspects is working with Smile Train and FDI to be able to offer the best care possible to children with clefts,” said Jorge M. Gomez, CFO and head of the Dentsply Sirona Sustainability Programme. “Giving these children healthy smiles by utilising the most advanced digital technologies is part of our larger sustainability goal to improve global oral health care and create millions of healthy smiles around the world. We are happy to contribute our knowledge and technologies for this important cause.”
“We are proud to be working with Dentsply Sirona and Smile Train to increase the global access to the best possible cleft care,” said Professor Ihsane Ben Yahya, president, FDI. “Cleft surgeries and cleft care benefit hugely from digitisation and together with our partners we work fervently on providing oral health professionals, especially in limited-resource settings and remote regions, with the infrastructure and training necessary to correctly use these digital technologies.”
“Children with clefts are more susceptible to poor oral health which can greatly impact their speech, ability to eat, and their overall well-being,” said Susannah Schaefer, president and CEO, Smile Train. “We are delighted that our new partnership with Dentsply Sirona and FDI ensures that Smile Train centres around the world will have access to digital treatment protocols that integrate the latest, newest technologies to provide best-in-class digital oral healthcare.”
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