C.D.R.I. provides free dental services
and preventative guidance to marginalized people in under-serviced areas of the world
and train local health workers to provide dental care for their communities
About Us
We are a group of Canadian dentists and volunteers who provide free dental services as well as dental health education to marginalized people from isolated communities. We also seek to train local health workers in emergency dental care, so that they may continue to serve their community after we leave.
It all began with four friends who met at University of Toronto while studying dentistry.
We organized a dental health project in the jungle of Ecuador. After that life changing experience we decided to continue with these projects and later created CDRI.
So far Doctors Eckert, Kreher, Humeres and Yung have provided free dental services to thousands of people from Ecuador, Guatemala, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Thailand (Burmese Refugees), Easter Island and Roatan, Honduras.
Our Work
Our project is to improve health in developing nations, by providing free basic dental services and preventive guidance to those people economically and socially marginalized, and by enhancing the capacity of local health providers to deal with the dental needs of the local population.
These activities are provided specifically to those sectors of the population that are economically and socially marginalized. These projects take place in locations that are physically isolated from medical and dental services, like the two projects in the Peten region of Guatemala (2004, 2007) and Amacari, Bolivia (2001), Easter Island (2019) or in urban locations where sectors of the population have no access to local dental treatment due to their meager economical condition (Dominican Republic 2005, Ecuador 2011, 2014, Guatemala 2018, Roatan 2023) or socially marginalized people as some Burmese Refugees living in Thailand.
How do we do it
Each project starts with a request from a local community for our services. When the request is accepted,
a conversation stars with the local leaders with respect to needs and expectations. A date and duration is set
in order to accommodates the needs of the community and the availability of the participating dentists. We approach hospitals, dental faculties, dental colleagues and dental supply companies for donations of materials and supplies. Finally a list of volunteer positions needed for the project is made and volunteers engaged.
