Answering the Call: How to Establish a Dentoalveolar Surgery Mission in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract

Addressing access to oral health care in many low- to middle-income countries is a complicated issue. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons may help engage with vulnerable populations through carefully planned dentoalveolar mission trips. The process of planning a mission includes selecting a population and identifying their unique needs, designing clinic layouts and workflows, team preparation, collection of supplies, fundraising, and advertising. During the mission, methods for protecting privacy, delivering treatment that is standard of care, and sanitation/sterilization options are reviewed. Ethical considerations include avoiding exploitation of vulnerable populations, offending local hosts, need for data collection, and long-term mission sustainability.

Keywords: Clinical design; Clinical workflow; Dentoalveolar; Humanitarian aid; Low- and middle-income countries; Mission ethics; Mission trip.