World Dental Development Fund

The aim of the FDI World Dental Development Fund (WDDF) is to improve oral health globally, primarily through the establishment of innovative prevention and access programs in disadvantaged populations. WDDF illustrates FDI's commitment to its members and the funded projects reflect the core values and principles of FDI, which are integrity, a culture of inclusiveness, excellence, and ethical behaviour.

Applications are open

The World Dental Development Fund accepts applications on a continuous basis.
The submission deadline is on 15 June.

Apply to the World Dental Development Fund

About the Fund

Each year, FDI supports three to five projects. Each project can receive a maximum of CHF 10,000.

Projects should revolve around at least one of the following topics:

oral health education;
oral health promotion;
oral disease prevention;
oral healthcare delivery;
oral health integration into primary healthcare.

Projects must benefit disadvantaged individuals and/or communities and contribute to improving oral health. Projects must relate to local, regional or national strategic health aims within the country and should be developed in consultation with local authorities and stakeholders. Priority will be given to projects with a prominent educational component and strong potential for sustainability.

Read the application guidelines and apply

Featured project

Comunidad Sonrisas

Community-based oral health program for children in Til Til.

Past Projects

Improving oral health of handicapped children in Senegal

Oral health needs of handicapped children will be at focus in a new project cooperation with the Senegal Dental Association approved in August 2005. The World Dental Development Fund will finance the activities in several orphanages and schools in Senegal. Physically and mentally challenged children suffer from a significantly higher burden or oral diseases while having at the same time a more difficult access to oral health care. The project tries to bridge this gap by providing free dental treatment and preventive education to teachers and nurses. Colgate Senegal will also contribute to the project.

Integrating oral health in Primary Health Care in Northern Pakistan

This project approved by the World Dental Development and Health Promotion Committee in September 2004 aims at integrating basic oral care in existing primary health care structures in a rural province of northern Pakistan. The demonstration project will be co-financed by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation.

Oral health survey in Rwanda

The Fund approved this project as one of the first to give support to a war-torn country virtually without any resources or functioning structures. It was agreed to conduct a baseline oral health survey in order to allow further planning and establishment of appropriate services. Due to the expected practical difficulties in conducting an epidemiological survey according to WHO standards, the initial concept was later modified towards a more realistic needs assessment approach.

The survey was successfully terminated in January 2004 and a report with initial results was presented during the Planning Conference for Oral Health in the African Region in Nairobi in April 2004.

Computer Equipment to Dental Schools in Africa

This project was carried out in collaboration with Unilever Oral Care Ltd. and the Commonwealth Dental Association. Appropriate computer equipment and software was donated to identified dental schools, national dental associations and individuals in the African region in order to facilitate communication and exchange of ideas and knowledge.

Community oral health in Lomé, Togo

This project has been approved in 2002 and has started in 2003 with the implementation of the first phase, consisting in a national oral health awareness campaign and the introduction of a school health programme in Lomé, the capital of Togo. This programme includes education of children, teachers and parents as well as examination and treatment. A fluoridation scheme will be introduced at the next stage of the project.

Smile Healthy with your Diabetes: An Oral Health Coaching-based intervention for patients with Diabetes, Turkey

The project is jointly carried out by the School of Dentistry at the University of Copenhagen and the Yeditepe Dental Faculty in Turkey. The main objection is to assess the impact of an oral health coaching-based intervention on oral and general health of people with Type 2 Diabetes. The project promoted health coaching for work-place settlements, integration of health coaching into postgraduate oral and public health education programmes and website about health coaching for diabetic patients.

Capacity Building in Africa

The World Dental Development Fund supports capacity building activities in dental public health in five West-African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger and Togo). Training courses for oral health managers in dental public health will be developed in close co-operation with a network of stakeholders including the WHO, National governments, dental associations, the French NGO Aide Odontologique Internationale (AOI) as well as with local and international universities. This initiative is a direct result of the Planning Conference for Oral Health in the African Region that was organized by the FDI and WHO in April 2004 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Smiling Schools of Namibia

The project aims at introducing oral health education in a rural area of Namibia, including education of teachers and provision of simple treatment. Starting in the year 2000, the project seeks to integrate an oral health component into WHO's Health Promoting Schools Programme. Phases I and II have been successfully completed.

Oral health in rural India

The project is based in the region of the town of Chitrakoot, a poor rural area in India. In collaboration with a UK-based NGO, a dental clinic was provided to an existing hospital belonging to the project. The background and achievements of the project are impressive including social and community development, micro-finance of small enterprises, education and gender issues.

The equipment provided allowed to expand the local healthcare facilities, to offer dental treatment and education in oral health to a community of about 150,000 people. FDI's involvement has been successfully completed.

Oral Cancer Awareness for dentists in Latin America and HIV/AIDS awareness training for dentists in Latin America

Both continuing education programmes were initiated and organized by the Latin American Regional Organisation (FOLA/LARO). The multi-country programmes covered several countries and offered intensive training of the dental team in early recognition of oral cancers and pre-cancers as well as training and raising awareness for oral problems related to HIV/AIDS infection.

Minos ya Koseka (Teeth for Smile), Congo DRC

This project, implemented in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was approved in 2010 and official work began in 2011. The aim is to promote oral health in the SOS Children’s Villages’ homes, schools and medical centres.

Training of SOS Mothers to educate children in the SOS homes regarding oral hygiene, provision of dental treatment in medical centres were carried out. The project also helps teachers in the school to establish amongst the students a daily routine for brushing using fluoride toothpaste.

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