World Vision helps Albanian children avoid tooth problems

Recently, through partnering with another organization and the generous three dentists who donated their time and services, World Vision provided free dental service for 180 children in need in four communes of Shkodra Area Development Programme, located in northwest Albania.

World Vision’s health outreach began by partnering with doctors to provide health check-ups for students after classes. During their physical check-ups, the trained professionals quickly realized that many children had oral infections and tooth decay. They even saw many children whose situation was so desperate they hardly had any teeth left.

Liljana’s daughter, Amarilda was one of the children to receive treatment. Even though she is just 13 years old, she has already lost four of her permanent teeth. Although Liljana knows what should have been done when her child complains of tooth pain, the proper remedy is out of her reach. “[When] my daughter had terrible tooth ache, the best thing in such cases is to go at the dentist and get medication,” she says. “But, here to fix a tooth costs approximately $30, too much comparing [it] with the $5, cost for pulling one tooth up…, Unfortunately, we have chosen the second alternative as it is much more cheap.” Liljana is happy because with her daughter’s visit today, they were able to ease her pain and spare some of her teeth. 

A tooth filling in Albania normally costs between $20 and $40. For a huge number of people, especially those living in poverty, many of whom live in the remote villages, the price is unaffordable.

But, cavities and fillings are not the only concern. According to the dentist’s opinion, the situation is aggravated by overall cultural apathy toward oral hygiene—many people do not practice a culture of teeth brushing and are not aware of the risks that come with a lack of care for their teeth.

“We saw lots of teeth problems on the children we visited,” said Anisa, one of the dentists. “In my opinion, taking care of teeth is a cultural problem in Albania.  Lots of parents themselves do not practice a healthy tooth bushing routine and do not teach their children about the importance of oral hygiene. Apart from [this], dental service is costly and unaffordable for many people,” she adds.

A lot of advanced work and organization went into the dental clinic which lasted eight days, including the check-ups. . Three dentists attended children in a space that was generously offered by a local church while World Vision provided the transportation to and from the children’s villages to the church—on average, a 40 minute car ride; much too far to walk.  In the villages where the children live, proper dental service does not exist. No one complained about the tooth pain, they were happy and enthusiastic to ease their toothaches and avoid any tooth infections over time.

Rovena, 7, and Nusërete, 8, were two more of the children who saw a dentist. Nusërete was a very brave girl. She did not complain a word while the dentist pulled one of her baby teeth to make room for the new one to bloom.

Rovena was inspired by her experience. “I am getting to like this job to help children for free,” she says.

Parents, too, were very grateful. “My son has days of complaining of toothache,” says Age, 47, a mother. “It breaks my heart to see him suffering, but I can’t afford to pay an amount that is too much for me. I sacrifice a lot to feed [my children]. Dental service is a luxury for us. Thank you for helping us for free,” she says.

Even though much progress was made and many children helped, many more are still waiting. “There are more cases to be treated, but we look so much forward do more for these communities and children who live here,” says Mirela Sokoli, World Vision staff. “We aim to provide more help and cover as many other cases as we can,” she adds.

In order to raise awareness of the children and parents about the necessity of tooth brushing and dental check–ups, children and their parents who were seen by the dentists also benefited from an awareness training from the director of public health who shared about the importance of oral hygiene and how important is for everyone to brush their teeth daily.

At the end of the process, children were equipped with toothbrushes and toothpaste and enjoyed a great time of entertainment by an animator invited by World Vision. Children played and enjoyed a relaxing time and a better health.