Mongolia mobile clinics tackle child tooth decay

Mobile dental clinics are treating children in Mongolia as dentists and aid workers warn that sugary diets and limited access to care have left many young people with untreated tooth problems.

Misheel Kids Foundation runs medically equipped mobile clinics that provide checkups, cleanings, root canal treatments and tooth extractions in Ulaanbaatar and in remote areas where dental services are limited or unavailable.

Namuunaa, the charity's pediatric dentist and project manager, told AFP that around nine out of 10 children across Mongolia have tooth decay. “We are facing a very serious situation,” she said at the organisation's dental facility in Ulaanbaatar.

The problem is linked by the charity to changes in diet since Mongolia's Soviet-allied communist era ended more than three decades ago. Mongolia's population of 3.6 million has rapidly urbanised, and traditional meat and dairy diets are now accompanied by widely available sugary snacks and soft drinks.

Misheel Kids Foundation founder Gabriella Schmidt-Corsitto said many parents are not aware of the effects of frequent sugar intake and do not teach children to brush their teeth regularly. “These two facts are, together, a disaster,” she told AFP.

The organisation, named using the Mongolian word for “smile”, says it has treated more than 22,000 children over more than a decade. Its work includes free examinations and treatment, oral health training, and visits to orphanages and daycare centres.

Namuunaa said mobile “dental treks” can involve treating 50 to 80 children in a day. She said demand is higher in rural areas, where children “may simply have to live with the pain”.

The charity said most of its funding last year came from European foundations and private donors, with other support from local sources and the Mongolian government. Namuunaa said securing funding remains “constant hard work” and that the group is seeking more support from Mongolian authorities.