PAHEF at Work » Success Stories 

Regional Oral Health Program

Dental caries are the most prevalent disease among children in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Children feel the effects of the caries which cause:

• pain and discomfort
• tooth loss
• misalignment of teeth
• absences from school

Research has shown that appropriate amounts of fluoride can reduce dental caries by as much as 80%.

The Foundation contributed to a long term PAHO/WHO project to boost the availability of fluoride in the regular diet of children by adding fluoride salt. The project:

• shared innovative methods and technology with the salt industry to achieve consistency and quality in salt fluoridation
• improved the surveillance of salt fluoridation programs

Real Results :
Since the inception of this project in 1993, more than 250 million people in 17 countries have benefited from access to fluoridated salts.

Access to fluoridated salts has led to significant reductions in dental caries…

• Colombia – 52.1% reduction
• Costa Rica – 76.1% reduction
• Jamaica – 84% reduction
• Mexico – 45.7% reduction
• Uruguay – 41.5% reduction

Click here to see what the Journal of Public Health Dentistry says about the book Promoting Oral Health: The Use of Salt Fluoridation to Prevent Dental Caries.

The Regional Oral Health Project is helping create healthy smiles for healthy children!